The Rosette and the Beast
by JeffC FTW
Summary: Sakura Haruno goes to work for Sasuke Uchiha, a reclusive millionaire, to pay off her father's debt to him. And the more time they spend together, her kind heart slowly warms his icy one. A modern tale based upon "Beauty and the Beast".
1. A Beauty and a Beast

**Has anyone ever watched "Belle and the Beast: A Christian Romance"? A modern retelling of the fairytale we know and love, a kind of Hallmark filled with heart and soul. What made it interesting was that the ugliness of the male lead is INTERNAL rather than on the outside. Which brings me to cross it with none other than two beloved characters of an anime/manga we love so much.**

 **Sasuke Uchiha is so cold-hearted and selfish that the people of Konoha call him "the Beast." His parent's murders followed by a lifetime of anger, hate and bitterness consumed him. But then comes along kind and caring Sakura Haruno who works hard to help her father, sacrificing her personal interests. But in event of an accident in which her father breaks a priceless heirloom, Sakura agrees to work for the Uchiha to pay the debt and save her father's job...and there just might be more to Sasuke than the man he became. Complete with a traditional opening sequence to the end...**

 **Disclaimer: I own neither Naruto or "Belle and the Beast".**

Chapter One

A Beauty and a Beast

 _Once upon a time, at the bottom of Mount Fuji and in a land not unlike your own, there lived a beautiful young woman who was named after one of the sweetest, symbolic blossoms in Japan - in all of the modern East._

 _Her name was Sakura. She was kind, thoughtful, selfless, but above all, she loved her family, friends and life. She spent her time pursuing her education and working to help her family. She brightened the day of all who met her with her cheerful outlook on life._

 _But in the same land lived someone concerned with no one but himself._

 _The young man had great wealth, lived in the upmost luxury, yet no one envied him. He was a cold-hearted, ruthless human being. His name was Sasuke Uchiha. Throughout the land, he was more commonly called the Beast._

~o~

Dark onyx eyes didn't blink when they looked up from the newspaper in front of him to see the traditional breakfast made and laid in front of him. Eggs and his favorite roasted tomatoes, paired with rice balls wrapped in seaweed. He nodded to the maker without a word and picked up one of the rice pieces and began to nibble much to the disapproval of the cook, a young man a few years older than him.

Kabuto Yakushi he'd known since they were children, when his family came to work for the Uchiha, but then the Uchihas were ruthlessly murdered when his master was only a child. It had been just the two of them and Kabuto's parents until they, too, died. Their son would have gone into medical school to save his terminally ill mother's life had it not been too late, and his father committed suicide not long after.

"I'll be in my office," Sasuke told him, picking up the tray without even thanking him. The silver-haired man shook his head, taking off his glasses to wipe them clean on his shirt. All these years of trying to balance between being a good friend and the one who took care of him and this house was starting to take a toll on him. He liked to think the main reason he was doing this job was to save up for medical school. It was hugely expensive, and the pay was well, but not generous enough. Sometimes Kabuto wondered if he was going to die the way he was now.

After all, was there anyone who knew how to tolerate Sasuke Uchiha for that long?

"Remember, dear," his mother had told him once, "his parents are gone, and we are all he has left." _Yeah, Mother, and look at what a spoiled brat - no, he's MORE than that. It's a miracle I even survived this long with him._

Meanwhile, the main entrance to the estate was opening. The secretary had arrived on time just as the boss himself was leaving his office. He must have chosen to leave the dishes in there himself for Kabuto to pick up since he couldn't be seen taking care of anything by himself. "The Hyuuga file is done, and the corporation called, wanting you to come out and give final approval on the deal," the red-haired woman with glasses told him.

"Intend to," he answered, taking it from her with intention to look himself in his office. "Karin, I have some emails for you to follow through." Again, not even to thank her. Kabuto amused himself by snickering when she sarcastically said "welcome" behind her employer's back. And not much time later, when Kabuto was cleansing the marble kitchen counters, the man of the house came in, and he chose now to remind him about the handyman who was coming to fix the fireplace.

The Uchiha scoffed. "Kabuto, when did I ever care about your Monday reminders?"

"Just keeping you informed so you don't blame me later for not telling you." Not directly insulting, but enough to slap him in the face.

"And when did THAT ever happen?"

 _More often than you can count._ Kabuto could think of the most recent. "Two weeks ago when you...screamed at the electrician for interrupting your need for solitude," he answered smoothly, drying the counter with the dish towel. He received no answer, just an audible sigh of exasperation. Sasuke wouldn't admit it, but he got it. But if there was one thing he pitied and felt sorry for, it was the fact Sasuke Uchiha was always alone since his family was taken from him.

What would he need "solitude" in the house for, anyway?

~o~

Another busy day, and it was just like Ino to badger her at the end of the day, at the Konoha Orthodontist Facility. "You ready?" the blonde asked as she approached the pink-haired woman who was just pulling some files that Tsunade-san wanted for tomorrow.

"Go ahead and I'll lock up when I'm done."

"You don't want me to do it for you? You know you have your _homework_ ," Ino reminded her, the little drawl heard on "homework".

Homework was never an issue for her, but she got her there. And if there was one word to describe Sakura Haruno, it was workaholic. But what the hell? She was very passionate, and when her mind was on something, it was solid and in stone. "Ino-Pig," she said through her teeth, trying not to laugh, "no, I will be fine, and I totally heard your tone there." And it was nothing they hadn't been to before, with much work in both this place and after school hours.

As for what she was doing here at the orthodontist's practice, she intended to one day take this over, but first get to the assistant director's seat, and as a start she could "fire" Ino Yamanaka, her lifelong best friend since pre-school, for mocking her the way she did. Another joke they'd been through.

"Are we still on for tomorrow?" _Here we go again._

By tomorrow, Ino was talking about Kiba Inuzuka, a cousin of hers on her mother's side. Trying to set her up once more, but when did Sakura ever have interest in guys? In high school, she preferred books and studying, while some guys could think of one thing, and others on cars and whatever they loved. And Kiba here, he seemed...nice. Although he had a tendency to throw a tantrum when he didn't get his way, which made her a little wary. He wasn't bad-looking either, and she didn't know him that well. Which meant tomorrow night she could have her chance to judge before deciding if he was her material.

 _Whatever material THAT would be._

~o~

"You are the most incompetent assistant I have ever had! I told you NOT to call until I approved!"

He had gone to meet with the Hyuuga Corporation to discuss the deal to help his family's business when he learned that they already decided the decision when he never once gave them his final word. Today was only supposed to be a meeting, nothing more, and his incompetent assistant Karin had to go ahead and give his word when he didn't really settle. Just the way it was supposed to be! That one call without his permission changed everything.

He was ruined, once more. Thanks to her.

Karin was fuming as her hair. "But you _did_ approve, Sasuke!" she insisted.

"No!" he shouted. "I specifically said do not make a move until we have them locked in!" And for a very good reason: the Hyuugas were always a competition with the Uchiha, and no one ever joined them without compromise on both sides. "This mistake you made is going to ruin not only me, but my relationship with them."

"Like you have a relationship with _anyone_ ," she spat. _Little bitch_.

Sasuke stiffened. She dared to point out something that was not her business just as she did something part of HIS business - his father's legacy which he'd sworn to honor, that his dear older brother had to bring shame to and ruined Sasuke's childhood - without his full consent. The final decision was based on the man in charge, not the secretary, which was the final button to push. She was fired, but before he could say anything, she thrust a couple of papers into his hand.

 _Her resignation papers._ "I've had them typed up for weeks," she sneered, enjoying every bit of his reaction. Oh, his blood was on boiling point. And the look from the repairman at the fireplace added to it. The man quickly went back to work if he valued his job.

"So...I've been paying you all this time for _nothing,_ " Sasuke hissed, his fingers crumpling the paper almost to bits. "And judging by the date of this, I don't have to make up for those last few weeks, do I?" She gave one more spit to his face, literally, making him cringe and wipe it off with disgust, before she took the papers from his hand and stalked out of the house, slamming the front door behind her -

\- at the same time the sound of pottery smashing was heard. Sasuke whirled around, livid to his bones now, as he saw what happened: the repairman, whose name was K. Haruno on his shirt tag, had stood up but didn't see that he'd knocked into an antique vase that found its way into pieces on the polished mahogany floors. The Uchiha's temper erupted with a vengeance. The clumsy fool!

"IDIOT!" He stomped in and dove to the mess' side, gathering them all up just as the other man took his portion. He was not going to listen to the useless apology he heard all his life for anything. "You didn't mean to do this, did you?! No one tries to be an idiot; it always _just happens!_ Do you have any idea how much this -" He held up the pieces in his hands. "- is worth?" It was, in fact, worth the lives of ten people."

"Uchiha-san," Haruno said, trying to keep his calm, "I really am sorry. What can I do to make it up to you?"

Oh, he wanted to know what he could do to "make it up", did he? He could not possibly do enough. Tomorrow he was going to do the rational way of phoning this man's boss of his clumsiness. He could start looking for a new job, for all he cared. Hearing this, the man's eyes widened with pure, unadulterated horror. "No! Sir, please, I need this job! Not just for myself, but also for my daughter -!"

This thing was broken enough as it was, so Sasuke dropping all the pieces made the fool stop speaking. "I couldn't care less what you need. My day is full as it is, and you're to blame for adding to it. Get out before I call the police," he growled.

He half-expected K. Haruno to protest more, but he took the threat seriously - and Sasuke really considered it, but the truth was they couldn't do jack about something petty like this - and picked up his equipment case before leaving the same way Karin had done that day.

~o~

When Sakura got home just as the sun was going down, the cold air rushed over her face and whipped her short hair. Snow from Christmas break remained on the ground, some melting away. Her father was home and waiting for her to get dinner started, but when she passed by the living room, she halted when she saw Kizashi laying back on the recliner, staring at the flatscreen with depression in his eyes. She swallowed. She hadn't seen him like this since Mebuki died.

"Dad," she said, sitting across from him on the closest end of the sofa, "what's wrong?"

Seconds passed before he answered. "...I need to start looking for a new job, kumquat." The nickname he gave her when she was a little girl rang a tee; the peel on the outside of the small orange fruit was sweet, but the core itself was sour. But then he said he was going to look for a new job, it could mean one thing: _you got fired._ There were no words to describe the shock she was in.

"Why...what happened?"

"It was an accident, honey. I broke something at Uchiha-san's; he said he would call my boss in the morning to have me fired."

She was furious - no, livid...actually, she couldn't think of the word for her smart brain. Her dad had been called in to fix the fireplace at the home of the last living Uchiha, the man everyone called "The Beast", and he got into trouble when he didn't mean to. Now he was going to lose the one thing that both he and his daughter, Sakura, depended on. "Dad, did you try to talk him out of it?" she asked, gripping the armrest of the floral-patterned couch that her mother personally picked.

Kizashi nodded, eyes distant. "Of course I did. But the man's a...beast," he said disgustedly. "And he threatened to call the police on me." _Uchiha...you bastard...beast...or whatever. And it was a damned accident!_ Only with what her father was telling her, the man clearly didn't see it that way or even gave a damn. "Sweetheart, I only had this job for a few months." How could Kizashi just let this happen to him without a fight? And what was more: how could Sasuke Uchiha think he could get away with anything?

The Uchiha was a powerful man, a spiteful one, and everyone knew it. In church, in schools, town - everyone. He was notorious. And it was because of what happened to his parents when he was a young boy.

Sakura could remember her parents talking about it when she was eight, the age she was when it happened. The details were so brutal that the youngest had to be shielded until they were old enough - but she'd gotten a hold of it a few years later. It was said that the oldest son, Itachi Uchiha, had done it, but he disappeared before police could catch and question him. He was listed as a prime suspect since his younger brother, Sasuke, was the only one to see him and was a sole witness...but he hadn't been there to see Itachi commit the crime. He'd only gotten home to find his parents' corpses in their own blood, in the middle of the foyer.

This said, Sakura had a feeling that something could be done. Her mother was dead, his parents gone - did anyone try to reach him using that? _It's not going to be straightforward. But if I don't save my dad, we lose our home and our life. Who does this man think he is to treat us like this?_ "Let me see what I can do."

"No, Sakura," her father insisted, "this is _my_ problem." But she would never take no for an answer.

"Dad, I work and go to school, but even that's not enough to take care of this house. We need you to keep this job." By "we", she meant the two of them. And if her mom was here, she would definitely agree. "If there is something I can do, then I am doing it."

She was going to Sasuke Uchiha's secluded mansion further up the hills, near the forest. But after she made dinner for her father and herself. She would not give that man a lesson on an empty stomach. And before you said anything, she never got nauseated with worry. Nothing did that to her anymore.

Nothing surprised her anymore when she saw the great gates opening to show a place that could have been created by a Western architect, for its classical columns supported the roofs that honored this country, and the rest of it which was covered about with pristine snow was a zen garden paired with more lush flowers, like rose bushes? _We're not here to admire the scenery._ So she parked the minivan at the gate when she was close enough to the call box.

 _"Yes?"_

The voice that answered sounded like a young male, but it couldn't be the one she was here for, right? "Is Sasuke Uchiha available?"

 _"Your name?"_

"Uh, he doesn't know me. I'm Sakura Haruno. This regards my father from the repair company today."

There was a pause before she was graced as the gates were opening on the other end. _"Just walk around the back of the estate. You'll find Uchiha-san there."_ Sakura could hardly contain her excitement - well, not for long. But the anticipation made her stomach roll with the food she ate. And it was with mixed reactions.

She found the path she was told in no time, which was cleared for walkers, and there were garden lights to illuminate the way. Putting her hands in her heavy coat pockets, Sakura proceeded to walk down, looking for any man since she didn't know what he looked like...

"What are you doing on my property?"

Sakura just about jumped out of her skin. She turned around at the source of the voice, and there sat the man on the bench. He regarded her stonily with glassy dark eyes. He was pale, with aristocratic features almost feminine-like, a thin nose like hers, and his black hair was swept up in the back like a duck's rear. "Are you Uchiha-san?" For a second, she was distracted just by the sight of him, before reminding herself that his appearance couldn't deter her from her objective.

His eyes narrowed, scrutinizing her, not answering. "I came here to ask you...not to call my dad's boss." His eyes widened a fraction with recognition.

"You're the repairman's daughter. Well, you must be an idiot, too." She bristled internally. Well, it wasn't like this was going to be smooth from the start.

"Excuse me," she said, "but that's uncalled for - as was the way you treated my father."

This guy was as much a jerk as he was said to be - no, now that she was in front of him, the opinion doubled. "You want me to _reward_ him for breaking priceless art?" he sneered.

"No, of course not. But please don't call his boss." She hated begging, but if that was necessary, she would do it. Her father was all she had left, and she was doing this just for him. "Our family relies on him; we need him to keep that job."

 _The Uchiha really are unreasonable._ "Do you know how much fine art costs, girl?" he demanded. "Girl"? Why, she was very much the same age he was! "That was handed down in my family from my grandfather's time."

"Yes! I am the only one in college, but even that and my job I have right now isn't enough to care for our house," Sakura went on, only for him to speak up without regard.

"What about your mother?"

She gritted her teeth. "My mother died years ago. Like I said, Uchiha-san, I do what I can, but my father's job is all we have until I get my degree in two more years."

For a moment, she thought she'd gotten through to him...but how wrong she was. "Lovely sob story," he said sarcastically, "but it changes nothing. I was wrong to even think your father was competent." Now she snapped.

"It was an accident! And if you want it made up to you, I'm sorry. We can't pay anything close to whatever the art was worth."

She got a smirk out of him, but it was unpleasant. "It would make me feel better," he said, leaning his head back by an inch.

So, he would feel better only if they paid him back in money so he could get a replacement for a piece of junk? She didn't mean for that to sound cruel, but he had no idea what family was like since he lost his. "Would it? If we can't pay the money the way you want, there has to be something I can do. Anything you want me to..."

 _Anything to make this right._

The silence that followed was painstaking and straining that she feared he would once more refuse...but it turned out the negotiation was worth it. If you could call pleading and desperation "negotiating". The Uchiha stood and looked her down. He was taller than her by a couple inches, which surprised her. "Alright. I just fired my assistant today. You can replace her and work for me until I feel the debt is paid off."

Why was she not surprised? Sakura could not imagine how many assistants before this one he'd gone through. She tried to brace herself for what would be ahead of her now. But there were also a couple problems. "But I also have another job," she reminded him just as he was turning to walk away.

"You want me to call your dad's boss?" Ugh, the bastard got her there! Hastily, she shook her head. "Where do you work?"

"The orthodontist's office. I'm a part-time assistant."

He stiffened. "You work part-time, you say you go to school, and you claim your family is desperate," he stated bluntly. She nodded, which seemed to get him to rest his case. "Then on whatever your days off, you come and work for me. I guess you have your work cut out for you, don't you?" He then turned and made way for the back door that was before them. "Leave the way you came in," he called over his shoulder before closing and locking.

She stared for a few seconds, unable to believe what had just happened. But either way... "Thank you," she feebly called out, though knowing he wouldn't hear her and wouldn't give two rats' asses.

Sakura Haruno got herself a second job, and she was going to work for none other than the Beast himself, Sasuke Uchiha.

 **Reviews are much loved. :D Lots o detail or maybe enough.**


	2. New Assistant

**Wow, I'm always having fun doing a new story, anything with something in my life I love - and this is no exception. :D A great way to start the new year, huh?**

Chapter Two

New Assistant

At an ungodly hour of the night - only the beginning of the evening - some girl had to come onto his grounds and convince him to not speak to her father's boss because that job was what they depended on. He scoffed and did his best to brush that little girl away if she knew what was good for her. With that repairing position, how on earth did they even support each other?

What, a working girl with a part-time job and college work unable to help her father? She could have just quit school and worked full-time if she cared about her old man that much. Sasuke pondered this the moment he was inside the warm abode of his family home, and some hot tea to soothe his nerves that Kabuto freshened for him. The guy was nowhere around, probably retired the night. _No problem, I don't need you tonight anyway._ But in the morning, he would have to tell his butler and childhood playmate that he had a new assistant coming whenever she had a day off.

If she had a second life, he would do his best to not get his hopes up if he didn't always need her. As long as it was going to be until he said so, that the debt was paid off until he could find a replacement for that piece left down by Madara Uchiha, then he was happy.

Not only was it her nerve that riled his, but the _looks_ of her. It was not a sight you saw everyday, himself included, with that pink hair short enough to belong to a pixie, those wide green eyes, and that attitude that put Karin's to shame. Was that hair natural or dyed? It wouldn't surprise him if she was a punk rocker in her teenage years. Sasuke had to wonder why she chose to work in the orthodontic field, out of anything else.

 _Why am I wanting to know so much about her, anyway? Her father wrecked something that's been in my family for ages; how competent can she really be compared to him? She could always change her mind, up and quit like Karin...no, I could fire her like I did to Karin. That'd highlight my day._

On day one, he would just wait and see. The best thing he could do was ask her to do the smallest of errands for him. It was going to be fun to rattle her as she sure as hell frazzled him already.

That night as he fell asleep, a pair of verdant eyes framed with petal hair continued to haunt his thoughts.

~o~

It just happened that the first day of working for Sasuke "The Beast" Uchiha was when she was finishing her shift in the early afternoon of the next day, and she was going to head home to change from her navy scrubs before going straight back to the Uchiha place. She turned off the lights to the examination rooms then and there, only to be startled by Ino's voice. "Kiba should be here soon."

"Wh-what?" Ino raised an eyebrow, suddenly sparking her memory. Damn it, she forgot about meeting her cousin! She exhaled. "Oh, no, I'm sorry. I can't." Now her friend looked disappointed and confused. "It's a long story." Sakura wasn't sure how she could explain to her that she got a second part-time job, and that it involved the infamous Beast himself, as well to settle something that was an accidental mistake on her dad's behalf.

"Kiba's been asking about you ever since you guys met."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just have...another commitment. Ino, I promise I'm not trying to pull this all off..." She jumped a little at the voice she hadn't heard in awhile, and there stood Kiba grinning like a canine. The red markings he wore in younger days that he painted himself enhanced his features. Plus, she was glad he wasn't wearing that hood over his short, spiked brunette hair like last time, but his appearance wasn't a problem.

Sakura liked to think that she didn't have time for boys because she worked so much. She wanted an identity of her own so she could take care of her father and herself, not some guy who wanted her to give it up like the old days. Was Kiba that kind?

"Hey," she said, managing an awkward grin when she tried to slip past him. Behind her, she heard Ino say that the pinkette would be with them another day, and Kiba sounded worried if it was something he said. If only he knew.

Her dad was still at work when she arrived home, and in a flash, she was out of her scrubs and in a striped light blue blouse with faded jeans, and her favorite earrings which were delicate, ceramic cherry blossoms. She never wore makeup in her life, being told she was naturally pretty enough. The one issue she always had was her wide forehead, which earned her the nickname "Billboard Brow" from bullies, but Ino came to her rescue and boosted her self-confidence. She even adopted the name because it suited who and what she was. If she had it, she would own it.

She now stood outside the front door of the Uchiha Estate and rang the doorbell. It didn't surprise her the man of the house didn't answer himself, but she was surprised to see another young man do the job. He must have been a few years older than her, wearing glasses, and his silver hair held back in a half-high ponytail. He was kind of...cute. But not ethereal like the Uchiha...

 _Don't think about that, Sakura. Yes, he's sex on legs, but he's a bastard. This man threatened your father's job, and you're here just to work for him until it's settled. That's all._

"Oh, you must be the new assistant," he said, his voice soft and kind. "I'm Kabuto. Please come in." Now as soon as she was inside, her breath was taken away by the classical staircase, the suspending chandelier which had a painting of a Japanese scenery over it, and polished floors. She had never seen anything so timeless and sparkling with her own two eyes in her life.

It also turned out that Kabuto was the only one here besides the master, confirming he was indeed a loner. Sakura almost actually felt sorry for him - but only a little.

Kabuto led her up the staircase, showing her a little around and then stopping outside a room where a familiar voice was talking on the phone with someone. But before she went in, Kabuto put his hand on her shoulder and whispered, "Now, don't let him frighten you." _Thanks for the reassurance._

"Thank you."

She rounded and knocked on the side of the opened office just as he was putting the phone back. While she watched him, she noted how he wore a stormy blue collared shirt beneath a black vest. He had a good fashion sense, she would give him that. "Oh, you're here," he said simply. "Do you...have a name?" Oh, yes, they never were properly introduced last night, were they? He already knew her father's last name, so no need for that.

"Sakura."

Only his eyes raised from whatever he was writing down in front of him. No flicker at her name, which he seemed to think suited her appearance. "Cherry blossom," he said with a little snort. "Figures." Last night he was rude enough, so she was willing to let this little thing regarding her name meaning slide. He then put down his pen and arose. "Follow me."

He led her into another room across his office, which showed a guest bedroom with a nice four-postered bed for one person, absent of drapings, and covered with a shimmering silvery white quilt, and on the other side was a personal writing desk. "You work here when you are not running errands," Uchiha explained when he handed her a yellow sticky paper. It had down a list of things for her to do for him, and she couldn't almost believe what the hell was there. First was the shirts he heard was ready for pick-up from the dry cleaners.

Sakura wanted to sigh with exasperation, but she held it in, just in case he heard her and fired her when she didn't even begin. She forced herself to relax and not let him get to her, as Kabuto advised her.

The dry cleaners had his pressed shirts ready for him, and when she got back that day, she marched right for his office to ask him where he wanted them, hearing a bit of him on the phone again, mentioning "mid-level managers", and she had to bite her tongue. Was yapping about how his workers and others' weren't up to his standards what he did all day?

Someone needed to start teaching him some manners. She was more than qualified. She could only be nice a little at a time with people like him.

She'd had to hold the shirts in plastic with one hand when she put down the paperwork for him, and as a consequence, it slid off the desk and onto the floor. He glared at her, putting a hand to the bottom of the phone. "Do you mind?" Sakura awkwardly grinned as an apology as she fixed the little mess. She had to put it on the other table, and the shirts were to go into his closet.

That meant looking for his bedroom. Suddenly, Sakura felt a little self-conscious about that. The only man's room she'd been in was her father's, which had been his and his wife's until she passed. For a sec, she halted and wanted to ask him, but he was still on the phone and spitting that the managers ought to either be retrained or replaced because time was of the essence.

In her hunt, Sakura found herself seeing the expanse of classic Western filled with ancient Japanese paintings and pottery. It was a unique combination, if you asked her. And then, it was there among the bookcase that she glimpsed a familiar title that she loved so much that it amused her to know was even present amongst _his_ selection...

"What do you think you are doing?"

He was so quiet she never heard him come in! She jumped, holding the plastic-covered fabrics close, taking care to not wrinkle them. "I - I'm sorry. I was a bit lost. I was looking for your closet," Sakura answered quickly.

"Well, does this look like the bedroom?" Uchiha snapped. "You know, _Sakura_ -" She hated how he said her name like it was something sour. "- I have no problem going back on our deal. I got your father's work number right on my desk."

"Then, you can show me which is the right room." She had to force herself to be sweet and smiling, but surprise, surprise, he didn't return it. Although he did do what she asked, and the job was done.

Back in his office, while he was typing out letters, she was forced to be in his company and licking the envelopes the letters would go in. She was really trying her hardest to not look at him, but she did notice he would occasionally glance in her direction. Could this get anymore awkward? She could have sworn she was blushing, since she felt it.

 _You know, as much as I can only go so far, he's really not that bad to look at._

"Sasuke," Kabuto said, announcing himself happily - or was that just because she was here? "I have my mother's fresh pie ready. Do you feel like it?"

"...sure. I'll be right in." Okay, maybe he could draw his line somewhere and be calm and composed - just like the calm before the storm. And Sakura didn't expect to be asked to join; she was also surprised Uchiha-san said nothing, like he didn't care. _He doesn't care about anything._

She had her back to him when she left the room after the last few on her lap, so she didn't see him look up one more time to watch her retreat from the room.

~o~

One of the few things that Sasuke Uchiha really liked was spinach pie. He hated sweets and couldn't understand why many people - his brother included - liked them so much. This recipe was Kabuto's mother's that she traded with Mikoto Uchiha when she was alive.

Sasuke and Itachi's mother was a rare woman in which she was independent and taking care of the house while helping her husband manage the business. That had been how she met Fugaku Uchiha; she had been his secretary, but when they announced they were in love a few years later, she had to quit her job and become a housewife, but still managed to aid him at home. The big desk job would have been his brother's had Itachi not chosen to snap and murder Fugaku and Mikoto in their home - just as their youngest son was coming home from study hall late.

To this day, he could never understand why his big brother whom he used to love so much, worship like a god, could just up and kill their parents, claiming it was a matter of "great importance". He could still hear the cold, cruel words, especially _foolish little brother..._

He kept only a few things of their parents, that book amongst the collection that _Sakura_ found being notable. To see that she was snooping amongst his mother's treasure - one that she said was true to being with the one you love - made his blood simmer, especially that glitter in her eye. Was she familiar with that story?

Sakura Haruno was something else. She got under his skin in a way Karin never did.

He had to bring with him a piece of the newspaper that he'd read before, but it was interesting enough it was worth a reread. From the corner of his eye, she was smiling and thanked Kabuto when he offered her a portion. "When you're finished," Sasuke told her, "I want you to alphabetize the books." He was referring to every one of the case that she had to rest her eyes on. _She could be thinking about Mother's novel, but if she so much as pauses to peek inside..._

She dared to question him, and with that damned sweet smile! "Are you sure? I can -" She was trying to say she could do more than that, but when he gave an order, he expected her to listen.

"I want you to _alphabetize the books."_ That shut her up then and there. He heard her huff and return to the pie. Kabuto glowered at him but said nothing.

"Fine. But I can also do more than just filing and alphabetizing."

"Then it shouldn't be a problem."

Kabuto looked between them, unsure of what to do, but then he had to engage in small talk with the assistant. "Where do you live, Sakura?" He'd done this when Karin first came in, so Sasuke just let him. It annoyed him, but if his butler and new girl wanted to get to know each other, what did he care?

She answered that she lived a few blocks from here, where it was just her and her father. She even mentioned she loved her job, and no boyfriends present. But then added there _never_ had been a guy in her life. Sasuke didn't know why this bothered him so much, but in a sense, he was also relieved. She had studied and struggled all her life, but somehow she managed to retain that sunny smile and positive outlook on life...something Sasuke Uchiha could not remember since that night his life changed forever.

Sakura also said her mother died years ago, so when Kabuto asked her this, she simply said that it was something she didn't share every day, so he ceased his questions. "Can't learn everything about someone in a day," he once told Sasuke with an awkward smile.

Sasuke didn't bother asking her anything personal on his behalf, but everything he learned back and forth between her and Kabuto was good enough.

~o~

What a day it was to work for the Beast. But the highlight was that Kabuto really was nice to her, asked her questions about her life, but not being too prying - and with HIM listening in but saying nothing. That made her wonder why he didn't tell her to be quiet while he was reading that paper or something.

 _Maybe...there really is more to him than what everyone says about him. And more than what he showed me._

This also brought to light what her mother Mebuki used to say. She mentioned that Sasuke Uchiha, as a teenager, got into trouble a lot, been with a bad crowd before being committed for rehabilitation, seeing many psychiatrists, and the only people who raised him after his parents' murders and his brother's disappearance were the maid and her husband, along with their son who turned out to be Kabuto. Now, he told her this information of himself just today.

Some people might still be saying that the Uchiha was no better than he was as a teen. His attitude, she knew for sure.

When she got home to her father and helped him make spaghetti, which included a special sauce recipe that had been her mother's, he asked her how the "Beast" was. "Terrible," Sakura answered easily, and they both shared a laugh.

A few days later, she was back with the Beast again. When she drove up to the gate, answered by Kabuto, she was blown away by the better view of the estate, particularly the brick sections. They glinted like spring roses in the sunlight. _Warm, sweet spring within cold, unforgiving winter. Huh...irony._

She was bringing him his orange juice that morning, while he was sitting on his sleek sage couch, and without thanking her, he accepted it - before barking the orders. Like a master doing so to the dog; in her case, she was the female dog, get it? "There's a phone number on my desk. I need it right away."

"Yes, sir." Sakura turned on her heel then and there, making way into his office, only to find several sticky notes down there, and she was so stuck on which one it was. She settled on grabbing the one she thought was the best - but then he called her back and said it was the wrong one. Maybe on his bedroom desk.

She was starting to think maybe he worked too much, too hard. But that was also why she was here, wasn't it?

Later that day when she was typing up a list he asked her to make - and no, it had nothing to do with his business - she heard the noise outside, and turned to look out the window and see Sasuke Uchiha, of all people, in the basketball court. The face was devoid of emotion, but his eyes expressed everything. They burned with such fire that no person could restrain. Could this be his way of getting his anger out in a healthy, productive way? Shaking her head, she went back to work.

Of course, each day she would head home and do her homework, but that was basically what she'd do these days. Work, school Uchiha, and then homework, but not in that exact order. The last one, however, was always final.

When the doorbell rang, Sakura didn't think they would get a visitor at this time. She assumed maybe her father was receiving, but when Kizashi poked his head in, he told her a guy named _Kiba_ was here.

 _Kiba...Kiba is HERE?!_

Ino must have given him her address if he wanted to see her that bad. And by the looks of it, her dad was giddy as he'd wanted his daughter to go out and find a guy since she put too much of herself on hold just for him and everyone else. There he stood by the door, unable to stop grinning when he saw her. "Hi, Sakura."

"Hey, Kiba," she answered, unsure of what to say. He didn't seem to know what he was doing, either, when he asked her if she wanted to go get some ice cream - and she said yes only because her father answered for her. _God, Dad._ Without an objection, Sakura grabbed her coat and followed him out.

They found themselves outside the house on the porch instead, and he'd procured two hand-held cartons of strawberry ice cream. "To save us the trip," he told her, laughing. She let herself relax around him.

She decided that she preferred Kiba's company over that arrogant, prideful Uchiha. Being around him wasn't half bad, she decided, when that night they spent the next hour chilling out and him asking her why she didn't want to spend time with him and Ino before. Her answer: she had to work. "A second job," she said. "That, this job, and school."

"Wow, I'm not sure I would have been able to handle that," he told her with a guffaw, then calmed down. "Maybe it's time you...settled down, Sakura. Someone to take care of you as you've always taken care of others."

Sakura never needed anyone's help. She could take care of herself pretty well. But Kiba hinted something else besides what she was thinking. They hadn't known each other for that long, and she tried not to feel uncomfortable. He wasn't anything like Sasuke Uchiha, and she hadn't had good experiences with guys before them. She never needed a boyfriend or a husband - not yet, anyway. She just hadn't found the right guy. And she didn't even know Kiba Inuzuka that well to know he was that right one.

"Sometimes you have to trust your feelings. If not, you can trust mine."

Okay, this was going too far. The only way to end this quick and relieve herself of the suffocation was to announce she had an exam coming, which was true, and that made him disappointed. But he understood and let her go back into the house.

But not before he asked her where her second job was, and she blurted it out with haste: the Uchiha Mansion. She closed the door before she could listen to his reaction. If he could visit her there, then she could live with seeing more of him. Plus, she needed more time to think about what he said regarding "feelings".

"That was fast, kumquat," Kizashi called to her, concerned. "Is everything okay?"

"Y-yeah," she said, kissing his cheek. "We had a great time talking, but I got to finish studying for my exam, Dad."

 **Yyyeah, Sakura's patience can only go so far with the Uchiha Beast. XD If I was in her position, my tolerance could only be so much.**


	3. Just Deal With It

Chapter Three

Just Deal With It

"Good morning, Kabuto," she said, poking her head around and smiling at him when he was whipping up some fresh breakfast. It looked like perch alongside steamed vegetables, and the smell was heavenly. He asked her if she wanted any, but she politely declined. "Is Uchiha-san here?"

Something glinted in the spectacled man's eyes when he told her the master of the house was in the _spa room_ \- and that he had ASKED for her. Sakura couldn't believe it. Never did she think she would end up hearing that her _boss_ \- her temporary boss - was in a hot tub and wanted to see her as soon as she arrived.

Good thing his back halfway faced her, and his eyes were closed when she stepped in, standing by the side and just watching him. Suddenly, she wasn't sure she wanted to look away when she saw how _muscled_ he was. He was pale, from a lack of sunlight, but surprisingly, he kept himself well-honed. He wasn't bulky, but lean and lithe, the ripples defined. Every girl's wet dream, if you asked her. Sakura bit her bottom lip, threatening to draw blood. Something in her body started to stir...

She cleared her throat, distracting herself from the uncomfortable knot in her belly. "Hello, Uchiha-san." He opened his eyes and looked straight up at her. The steam made his irises smolder like spa rocks, intensifying the clenching of her abdomen.

"Ah, Sakura. There's a book on my nightstand."

In other words, he wanted her to get it. She nodded and left him to do just that - but when she found herself in his room, the photograph beside it made her halt. It was antique gold, framing a black-and-white photograph of two boys: one young enough to be seven, and the other maybe twelve or thirteen. The young one had the duck's hair, identifying him immediately as Sasuke. The other had longer hair, tied back, and with two lines slanted below his eyes. Both of them looked very happy, like nothing was ever wrong with the world.

 _This must be him and his brother...Itachi Uchiha._

She brought the book back without even glancing at the title, placing it into his extended and waiting hand. "Your next orders, sir?" she asked, deciding to tease him, see if it would work on him. It sparked a reaction, and she could have sworn she saw a faint hint of a little smile. It wasn't much, but it was a good start.

"You can wait in the next room. Read a book if you like." And reading was what she would do; she knew just the one.

She was in high school when she first read _A Coral Kiss_ , which told of a young author and her very good friend who eventually became much more than that following a strange injury in which he came for her help. _What's funny is the guy is dark, mystifying...and oh, so seductive._ After that would come delightful, heated nights and the need for personal healing - in the mix coming a suspenseful murder mystery.

Sakura read only a little bit of the first page when her oh-so-charming employer called for her to get his towel. Good thing he was wearing swimming trunks. She wasn't sure how much longer her sanity would hold after seeing his chest...the water dripping off those glistening muscles...

"What are you doing with that?" _Here we go again._

Sakura held up the book still in her hand. "Nothing much. Just reading like you asked. I loved this when I was a kid."

Her innocent revelation seemed to make him angrier. "Get rid of it."

She couldn't believe it. He said to toss this wonderful tale out because -?! "Why? It's a nice copy!" Maybe she should have kept that to herself, because in a flash, the book was out of her hand and into the water which was calming down. Her anger bubbled and blew just like those bubbles in there. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT?!"

"It's just a damned book."

"No, it's more than that," Sakura said, no longer caring to be kind when she hated this man so much, and she was going to let him know. She turned and moved to pick it out, drying it by shaking it off without needing a towel.

Sasuke stared down at her with evident distaste. "You think I care, hn? I no longer understand why that's still here when I could have thrown it anytime I wanted over the years." She froze where she was; there it was, another hint. This book meant more to him than he was saying. And it had once been something sentimental - now it was a burden, a reminder.

"Perhaps that ought to change," Sakura spat, looking him square in the eye. "Look, Uchiha, I do not know you or your reasons, but you don't know me or mine. Stop being so disrespectful."

His fist clenched, threatening to hit her if he wanted to, and she was so prepared for that. Maybe she could guilt-trip him with it afterwards. She took hits from bullies when she was younger. "Haruno," he returned, using her name, "it's MY house. If you don't like it, you're welcome to leave." Oh, like hell. She lifted her chin at him in defiance as her answer.

"Then deal with it." Now that was the last straw.

Her palm came and cracked him hard against the cheek. The sound echoed like a whiplash. A second passed before horror crossed over her as Sakura realized what she'd done.

His eyes showed the same amount of shock as she blatantly cracked her hand against his face. And as he said, in his house, in the spa room he'd just been relaxing - and just across the hall from the office where her father's work number was. _Great...now I've screwed up big time._ But she didn't have it in her to form an apology; half of her didn't _want_ to say she was sorry.

But Sasuke said nothing of this; instead, he changed the subject and issued another order. "I'm going out of town tomorrow and will be gone the entire day," he said. "I want you to pack my bag."

~o~

He was asking Kabuto what was for breakfast when he smelled perch and vegetables, telling him the answer. But first things first.

If Kabuto knew what transpired in the spa room, he chose to say nothing, but the mischievous glint was there. That was his way of saying "she showed you". But the Uchiha chose to say nothing and made way for his bedroom to get dressed. His cheek still stung from her palm whipping him; his skin was on fire. Now, safely away in his room, Sasuke threw the towel onto the floor in a fit of fury.

No one, and he meant _no one,_ struck Sasuke Uchiha the way she did! Why, he could have just gotten on the phone and -!

He stopped his mental ranting then and there, remembering that she was coming up here to pack his bag for tomorrow as he asked, so he hurried and slipped out of his trunks, settling on a navy sweater and black trousers afterwards. His suitcase was under the bed, but he chose to spare her job, absentmindedly, and put it atop the bed and wide opened. He decided to just throw his swimming wear into the laundry basket which he needed to be done anyway; he would leave that to Sakura, since she was capable enough for that. And speaking of the devil when he opened the door...

"Excuse me," she said bluntly, slipping past him to find his suitcase, only to see it on the bed for her. Sasuke could only stare at her, unable to find words, but he was too livid to deal with her anymore. It was bad enough that she had to read _that_ book which had been his mother's, but she didn't know that. Nor did she even ask. _She just assumed that it was mine._

Somehow, the thought amused Sasuke. He hadn't laughed at anything in a long time, not even at any jokes Kabuto would crack at him. Nor did he ever smile at Sakura when she did. Nobody ever smiled at him the way she and Kabuto did, and the ones Karin gave him were nothing short of faux that he knew too well.

He just hoped he wouldn't have to think about the unbearable Sakura Haruno tomorrow with the meeting. Anything but her...

~o~

 _I don't know how much longer I can deal with that son of an Uchiha. If he was a real duck, then I would have roasted him on the fire myself. Oh, yeah, then serve him for Daddy and myself._ The murderous fantasy was satisfying in itself, but she had no means to really carry it out. The best distraction she did was to dry off the book the best she could, without ripping the precious pages, and returned it to where she found it.

Now she was here in the Beast's room, packing his bag for him as he asked. He'd been in his room, redressing, and she hadn't expected to see him there when she finally went to do the deed. It was this time she chose to call Ino who was at work, but on her break, and now Sakura could no longer keep her cool. "I can't stand him."

 _"Wait, what - who are you talking about?"_ It was high time she told her best friend since she wanted to so many times, but it wasn't like she purposefully kept it from Ino.

"Sasuke Uchiha," the pinkette said, putting a neatly folded black shirt in.

 _"Uchiha, as in Scary Rich Uchiha, Uchiha Mansion before the forest?"_

"Yes to all. And Ino-Pig, I wanted to say this all along but didn't get the chance to, and when it did come, I had no idea how to say it. The story goes like this: Dad accidentally broke something at his house while repairing the fireplace, so Uchiha threatened to call Dad's boss and have him fired. Now I am working for Uchiha until the debt is paid off."

A pause before a harsh intake of breath. _"So, that's where you've been. Kiba keeps asking me where you are; he thinks you're avoiding him."_

Sakura was tempted to curse. Why would Kiba assume such a thing? She told him that she worked here; he could have just come and visited her to see himself, right? And what the hell was his problem? She didn't even tell him she was ready to get serious with him or anyone. She had more important things to worry about.

 _"So, is his house like...amazing?"_

"Ino!" she huffed, insulted. Here she was in one of the greatest predicaments of her life, and all her friend could ask her was if the insane Uchiha's house was _great_? _Well, yes, it is, but that's hardly the main issue! Ino, honestly, you can be so small-minded sometimes._

 _"Come on, would your dad's boss even fire him?"_ Ino asked instead, making her sigh.

"It's hard to say." By this time, she was done and closing the case. He had everything he needed from his suit of the day, his night clothes to sleep in if he chose to stay the night, bathroom essentials - all of which were too personal for her to handle. He could have just asked Kabuto since the guy obviously knew him much better than she did. "He's only been with them for a short amount of time, plus Uchiha calling..."

 _"Got it - but what's bugging you now, Billboard?"_

Sakura had to lean over to check through the cracked door to see if Mr. High and Mighty might be listening. "He is such a _jerk_ ," she hissed. "He's purposefully making it harder than it has to be. He has me doing the _stupidest little jobs -" Dry cleaning, sealing envelopes, picking up groceries, alphabetizing books._ "- he insults me constantly, and he has absolutely no respect for...anything." Including throwing away a great piece of literature that captured the heart. If he'd thrown the Bible to the water, that would have been sacrilegious.

 _"...so it sounds like all the rumors were true. You know he was a drunk as an underage, right? Got into fights? Talked to countless therapists - and was once placed on suicide watch?"_

She never saw him drink in her time here - but then she halted at the mention of "suicide watch". "I heard of all that, but I'm just now hearing about the suicide..." She trailed off, unsure of how to think about this. _His parents' murders must have driven him that off the edge he thought his life was over._

 _"But the bottom line is, if he's gonna be a jerk, you can think of how to shut him up."_

"I wish I could. I can't have him fire me and then call my father's boss. I have to get through with this." She paused to bite her bottom lip. "Except I did do one stupid thing today. Take a guess like I did to Neji Hyuuga when we were in high school." The guy from one of the biggest families would have pressed charges if there had been signs of a severe broken bone or a bruise even when he thought he could get onto her like that, and Ino had been there to witness.

 _"...you're kidding, girl. You really blew him to the jaw."_

Sakura grinned even though the other girl couldn't see her. "More like slapped like a bitch." This made her friend shriek with laughter before she calmed.

 _"Moving on from this. What does he do?"_

She shrugged. As far as she knew, he was a consultant or something, but this was his family's business left to him when his parents died, and when he was rehabilitated, he was homeschooled for college and then got the seat. Maybe it was time she found out, as Ino suggested. If she was fed up with her current position, it was time to start rising up.

Then Ino had to ask her if she wanted to see a movie with her and Kiba, which made her sad that she had to blow them again. "He's going out of town tomorrow, I got stuff to do." _As always...but oh, hell. Uchiha did say I had my work cut out for me._

She sure as hell did, and while he was gone, maybe she could use this opportunity. Even ask Kabuto for more...personal questions on his boss and childhood friend.

 **I read "A Coral Kiss" by Jayne Ann Krentz in high school, and it proved to be one of the best romance novels I ever read. The perfect blend of two opposites attract as well as a long-unsolved murder mystery in the middle.**


	4. Memoirs of a Troubled Soul

**This chapter primarily focuses on Sasuke's past and present, which is central to this story as it will also become crucial for Sakura if she is to try and understand him now.**

 **Be warned there is gore present. I usually like the unexpected, but not everyone shares that.**

Chapter Four

Memoirs of a Troubled Soul

 _He ran as fast as his legs could carry him. Konoha wasn't a large town; it was pretty safe, but now that the sun was going down - boy, was he going to get it. He wished he didn't stay so late after school, but he wanted nothing more than to perfect himself with every opportunity he had. His mother kept insisting that he not push himself because he was different from his older brother, but his father wanted nothing but the best. Just like he asked so much from Itachi..._

 _"M-Mom? Dad?"_

 _The small boy tiptoed into the house, gulping with fear when he saw the lights were all off from outside the windows. His bookbag felt heavy against his back, and he shrugged it off, dropping it by the door as he did to his shoes. A terrible feeling came over him. It was too early for his parents to be in bed..._

 _The room was still dark, but it wasn't long before he found himself slip-sliding on the marble floor of the foyer onto all fours. He flinched when his joints erupted with a little numbing pain. Then he smelled something salty from the wetness he slipped on. Why didn't he think to turn the light on when he first came in...?_

 _As if someone read his mind, the lights were on in a flash. A chilling voice penetrated the rigid air. "You didn't think to just turn it on when you had the chance. You were just paralyzed with fear." The person scoffed. "Foolish Sasuke, I almost pity you."_

 _The person who spoke - it was his big brother, Itachi. But the sight of him...covered in splatters of blood across his face, a thick butcher knife in hand...those cold, depthless eyes and lack of emotion. Now the young boy's traveled down and saw the source of what made him slip. The fluid was dark red, but on his hands, it was bright red like the roses that his mother planted in the garden._

 _Blood._

 _And it trailed back to the bodies of his parents. Horrified, he saw their throats had been slashed. "MOM! DAD!" he wailed, staying where he was. And the weapon present in his own brother's hand - Itachi had killed them. He took them away... "Why? Why did you do this, Itachi? Big brother..."_

 _"...it is of great importance."_

 _The child lifted his head from the stinking liquid that was both their parents' mixed, disbelieved at the unfeeling way he said that. What did...what did he mean? That creature, that calloused monster standing there, was NOT Itachi, his big brother who loved him and protected him, said he would always be there for him - "even if I am a wall for you to climb over. Even if you do hate me." Was all that a lie then...?_

 _The sound of a boot clicked on the floor which wasn't stained with Mikoto and Fugaku's bloods. "You would never understand - a pathetic child like yourself. Protected from the world around you. I did you a favor, foolish little brother," Itachi sneered, hovering over him and making him shed the tears._

 _Pathetic._

 _Foolish._

 _He found himself unable to move, too paralyzed with fear and succumbing to it..._

~o~

Sometimes Sasuke used to dream about that night. It was horrendous when he was still a child, and it worsened when he hit teen years, when his body underwent more changes than he could recall. It did nothing to help his morbid mental state, either.

Why would anyone try to understand his pain? Why would they pretend to when they had NO idea? Even if those psychiatrists said they knew, it was all a ruse to get him and others to open up. For all he knew, they just did their jobs for their pockets to be filled, and he long ago stopped trusting anyone - except Kabuto, when he felt like it.

He remembered still going to school because Kabuto's parents - who had been out of town with their son for their day off - persisted, stating that his parents would have wanted him to continue his future and that they would have been proud of him. And someday, he would get to run his father's consulting business. But at that time, little to Sasuke Uchiha mattered anymore.

As far as he was concerned, his life was over because of Itachi.

He was thirteen, maybe fourteen when he started to get into fights at school, and his legal guardians were by the time fed up with his attitude and insist that he see someone. The school counselor hadn't done jack; what did she know, hn? That was the start of many "shrinks" he was placed in front of. When he had just turned sixteen a few summers later, his limits were pushed over the edge besides slipping out at night for hard partying and a fake ID - given with help from a "friend" - and resorted to drinking, even sneaking sake at the mansion, and finally the one thing that he chose to do at home.

Sasuke took a razor to both his wrists in his bathroom. He wanted nothing more than to die, to see his parents again, or to just hope there was eternal darkness in which he knew no more. His efforts failed when Kabuto's father broke down the door after repeated slams, smashing the wood in half and finding a completely nude Sasuke who had not finished his bath, feeling now was a good time to die...

...only to wake up in a hospital room, tied down in watch, and visited by a shrink. He'd tried to escape one prison - life - only to end up in another, which would eventually be a padded cell for a year to come.

Begrudgingly, Sasuke was forced to accept the medications they prescribed him, to give up his drinking habits and to see that his life wasn't over. He had more to live for. If he gave into his despair, he was letting Itachi win. That was the final trigger to making him decide that he would pull himself together and make his path.

Itachi still hadn't been found all these years, but for some reason, Sasuke was no longer afraid. But he swore that if he _did_ see big brother dearest again, he would be all too ready for him.

Besides his prescriptions, he had to think about healthy, productive exercise like sports and yoga. He found his interest in basketball since he used to be on the team in middle school before he hit rock bottom. Now he played the sport alone at home.

Nobody ever tried to befriend him besides Kabuto. He never cared, either. He only wanted people to work with and FOR him, that was all. When he got out of the asylum a year before graduating high school, he got the word that he was expelled from school for his behavior, but he was allowed a tutor to help him get into a two-year college so he could learn what he needed; he ended up going to the local community, before being placed right ahead into the seat that was his late father's. He was "welcomed" with acclaim simply because he was Fugaku's youngest son, when Itachi disgraced them all.

 _"His elder brother showed promise, but he threw it all back in our faces. Let's see if this other brat of Fugaku's will be any better. I heard he got into so much trouble since that night..."_

In other words, they thought him insane and unfit, but he would show them wrong, by any means necessary.

As far as he was concerned, he earned his place the way it was now, and to get there, he had to step on several. Karin had been one of the latest, and now Sakura, the daughter of the repairman who wrecked something that was among all he had left...but here she was now firing back at him while tolerating him better unlike Karin.

Kabuto was the only one to ever talk to him the way she did, but she'd struck him unlike the silver-hair, and after she'd left that day when finished packing his bag, Sasuke found himself confronted. "I should have just fired her," he muttered over dinner. "Why was I so weak and speechless?"

"Well, if you ask me, you deserved it."

He blinked. He could hardly believe what he just heard. _I_ deserved _it?_ "Excuse me?" he demanded, glaring up at the man from the steak sprinkled with soy sauce. Kabuto turned away from the sink full of dishes and sniffed.

"Yes, you heard me right. She said she loved that book, and yet you reacted as usual; you never bothered thinking to tell her that it was your mother's. I'd say she would have been happy to know that. But _no,_ " he drawled, making the Uchiha's lip curl. He was treading fire now. "That was your first time getting smacked by a girl."

"...I ought to fire you with her then," Sasuke growled, but that didn't scare Kabuto.

"Go ahead then, Master," he said sarcastically, wiping his hands with the towel. "Because who will be here to take care of you without me and Sakura?"

"I can manage hiring someone else."

Kabuto raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Highly doubtful they would last that long. One day you'll be tired of hiring and firing, and when you hit middle-age, you'll look back and see how lonely and miserable you made yourself. And no, your dear big brother isn't the only one to blame. You chose to shut everyone out, me included. But I did only so much for you." He turned his back to Sasuke then. "Keep it up, Sasuke Uchiha."

Sasuke couldn't stop thinking about those words just as much as he couldn't stop thinking about Sakura and her "advice": _you don't know my reasons or me. Stop being so disrespectful._

For the first time, he found himself looking back on his life and the faces of those he put down. All by his own hand. But then he closed his mind to it in order to focus on the meeting with Hyuuga to renew the mistake that had been made by Karin.

~o~

Sakura spent her day away from the mansion doing all her research on the Uchiha business, which dealt with both forms of consultancy, providing expert advice on security, accountancy, the law, human behavior and education, and so on. Both internal and external existed within the Uchiha Agency, which made her almost disbelieved that he had tackled such responsibilities at a young age, after everything he'd been through. Sasuke Uchiha had been the leading consultant since age nineteen.

 _My God...and he had me doing his littlest needs like a maid instead of a real assistant over the biggest things he does._

When she came a couple days after he returned from that day-long meeting, she didn't see him at first, only to peek out his office window and see that he was wearing a heavy black coat and roaming the snow-covered gardens again. Besides that one time she saw him in the basketball court, there wasn't much for him to do that required another person. Who could even stand living like this for as long as he had?

She sat down at his desk and found her interest in the paper book which was filled with assorted law details regarding a healthcare coverage for those applying for this new year. Since he was going to be out there for who knew how long, she took this risky chance to show him she was capable. The health field wasn't something she could not handle.

Sakura took it to the kitchen since the office wasn't perfect, and there was just too much of _him_ to smother. By this time, Kabuto was unloading some groceries he brought back. Then his gaze fell on the pamphlet in her hand, and a little worried expression appeared before it was gone in a second, as if he had an idea what she was going to do. Sakura gave him a reassuring smile.

It wasn't long before she was halfway through that she heard his footsteps. And just as always, he asked her what she was doing - and with something from his office he'd worked on himself. "Welcome back," Kabuto told him, but Uchiha ignored him and demanded an answer from her.

"Reading," she answered simply, not looking at him. And then she had to mention there was a little typo on page four, but that made him snatch it from her.

"What gives you the right to look at this without my permission?!"

She whirled around. "Uchiha-san -!" And just like Kabuto to the rescue.

"Calm. Down." His slow space between words was a hinted warning. Sasuke did do that, but he wasn't finished with her. "And Sakura, call him Sasuke." She was startled a little that he had the bold move to say she call him by his first name when HE was supposed to make that choice.

"Sasuke," she started, slowly, and she admitted it was a nice change, but that was as far as she was going, "I'm sorry for reading without your permission. But it's my job."

"Your _job,_ " he ground out, waving the papers in her face, "is to _do what I tell you."_

Sakura gritted her teeth. "Sasuke, despite what you believe, I can think for myself." Kabuto winked at her, but she wouldn't give him acknowledgement. "If you want a decent assistant, then let me do something for you besides running errands."

He stared at her for a second, gob smacked, before he got it back together to demand, "You think you know about what I do." She smirked at him.

"I know I'm beginning to. I've done some research while you were away, as a start. You, for one, help companies identify problems so they are more profitable. For example, you think this one company is far understaffed..." He exploded, slamming the papers on the counter beside her.

"I don't have time for this." He turned and stalked out of the kitchen. Oh, she wasn't going to let him get away with this. She picked up the pamphlet and followed him.

"Look, you might as well let me do something more useful. You only have so many shirts I can take to the cleaners."

He snorted. "I can buy more." _And have so many you don't even wear, probably, because you don't trust me. Is this how it was with your last assistant?_

"What do you have to lose?" Sakura shouted. "I can still do all these menial things; just give me a damned chance to show you what I CAN do."

He bristled. "You've been here for barely even a couple weeks. You think I would trust you with anything -?"

"IF YOU WANT A REAL ASSISTANT, THEN YES!" For the life of her, Sakura couldn't recall a day or a time she raised her voice this much at someone - even at the man everyone said was a beast, including her father. Her heart was beating so much with frustration and relief that she got this out, but for a second they stared hard at each other before he turned to pick something up from his desk. To her delight, they were more booklets.

"Fine. If you love to read, then look through these if you want so much to understand what you're REALLY dealing with. And when you do understand...then we'll talk." He said no more and left her standing there, holding her next line of exhaustive work.

Score time. Sakura Haruno: victor, so far. Sasuke Uchiha: zip.

When he was gone, she cracked a grin of triumph.

For the rest of the day, she spent reading through the books, finding typos here and there, a correction of a phrase and so on. And they just kept coming in. She continued to smile at him when he would give her a new one, but he said nothing. That meant she got him good.

However, she found herself troubled when she realized she had yet to speak to Kabuto about his boss. With today now, enough was enough. Two more booklets to go, she chose to take a break and seek out the silver-haired young man, whom she found was in a back room which looked like a mini staff room for him personally. He was busy at what looked like a woman's sewing machine. "I hear you've been keeping busy," he noted, looking up at her with a smile. She returned it before asking of the device. "It was my mother's. She never had a daughter, and taught me how to." He chuckled nervously. "It's silly that a male could learn how to use it. But when she died, I felt I had to keep it alive for her, because it's one little reminder of the past that keeps me and...Sasuke in check."

She understood what that was like, all too well. When Mebuki died, she and Kizashi kept several things of her besides her many cookbooks. "You know something else?" Kabuto asked, putting down whatever that garment was in his lap, turning to look at her. The light reflected off his glasses. "Things have been...a little different since you came here. He's always been one to shout because it's all he's known, but you're the only other to stand up to him...and still survive." Sakura found herself sitting atop the counter beside the machine, a little higher than him now.

"If it's not wrong of me, Kabuto," she started carefully, "why is Sasuke the way he is?"

His face fell. "...I'm sure you've heard the rumors." She nodded. And now that he said it, she wasn't sure if half of them were true. If anyone knew the reality, it was Kabuto. "As you know, when he was eight years old, Sasuke came home late and found his parents brutally murdered, lying in their own blood, and his older brother was standing over the corpses. But Itachi fled before he could be arrested and put on trial. Itachi was the shining star of the family, as it is with older brothers and sisters in the oldest families even by today's standards." Kabuto leaned back, exhaling.

"My parents and I were gone when it happened. My uncle on Mom's side was seriously ill, as it was hereditary, so I wish I could give my two cents as to whether or not Itachi committed the crime before his little brother came. The murder weapon was missing from the scene, no fingerprints, and the only one to witness the aftermath was Sasuke; he gave the butcher's name, and even repeated the words he remembered Itachi said before he passed out from the overwhelming strain of knowing someone who loved and protected him all his life could do something like this."

"What did Itachi say?" Her heart had gotten colder with each grim detail revealed. Kabuto closed his eyes, voice deepening as if to Itachi Uchiha's liking.

"He'd said, quote, 'You would never understand - a pathetic child like yourself. Protected from the world around you. I did you a favor, foolish little brother.' Sasuke remembered word for word; he never wanted to forget that, like it was his only link to remembering that night. He was never the same afterwards. When he became a teenager, Sasuke started to sneak out and go to parties, even get in fights to take his pain into the open. He lost all meaning in life. In his mind, it was all over because the one he trusted most of all took it all away from him."

Sakura didn't realize she was crying until she was offered a tissue. Kabuto went on, "Yeah, he wasn't always the way he is now. He was a happy little child, and I was the only friend he had since he struggled with making them at school. But there was one he knew, before he moved away, leaving Sasuke alone. We were kind of like brothers, with Itachi with us, until that night, and it was me and him as well as my parents who were the only ones available to raise him. But even they had trouble keeping up with him, and one night when he was sixteen years old, my parents could take no more." His gaze darkened when he looked down at the floor. Sakura had a feeling where this was going...

"This is where the suicide watch comes in, right?" she asked quietly.

Kabuto nodded numbly. "It was horrible. My mother didn't feel like cooking, so she ordered pizza for us all, but when she called him to say it was here, it took forever for us to realize that something was wrong. Dad busted down the bathroom door that was Sasuke's...and we found him in the bathtub, filled with his own blood, and with a razor taken to both wrists. He almost died had I'd not called the ambulance myself."

 _So...it's all true._ "Sasuke was admitted and placed on watch," Kabuto said, swallowing a hiccup as it must have been a long time since he shed a tear. "He was prescribed, saw many, and he was so bitter and resentful, accusing them all of not understanding him - me included, but it wasn't long before I also lost my parents, by the time he was later released and was given tutorials to get his life back together if he wanted to carry on his father's legacy which his brother almost destroyed. But in the eyes of his business partners and the board, he was already a failure no matter what he did." Kabuto stifled a snort. "Financially, he's fine as you can see, but in terms of his business partners and his lack of a social life - he's pretty much an outcast in their eyes. And the stories still told about him only make matters worse for Sasuke," he finished, putting both hands in his lap over the colorful knit which might as well be a scarf.

In his mind, she repeated in her mind, Sasuke's hopes and dreams were over because his parents were taken from him, his brother betrayed him, but those messes as a younger man than he was now were all on himself. Look at him now. "Has he ever had another drink besides as a minor? I never saw him have one once since I got here," Sakura said.

Kabuto snickered. "No, he hadn't had a drink in three, four years. He's not long past legal age, but he hasn't shown signs of starting again anytime soon. Plus with the consulting firm, it keeps him busy." _Busy and alone._

That left one more question she wanted answered. "But how does that explain why he is so...mean?" She shared a giggle with him.

"Everyone just takes hard times differently, Sakura. He still blames Itachi, and those rumors don't help either."

 _No, I suppose not._ Sakura then looked up at the clock and realized half an hour passed. She had more work to do. "I should go. Thank you for talking with me."

However, she found herself wondering what she realized she forgot to ask: _Did Itachi say_ why _he killed his own parents? There is more to this than we know..._

 **Man, isn't it tiring or what, putting up with the overtly angry Uchiha or what? (whew) But at least Kabuto is there to serve as the medium, as long as it's still between the "couple". XD**

 **By the time I was done today with this, I was in tears. I mean, we do feel for Sasuke, but both here as in canon, it doesn't excuse how he treated people. And he just needs someone to push him in the right direction. People like that exist in real life.**


	5. Reminders

**Ugh no words to describe the fatigue I was in when I got home from shopping. Nevertheless, enjoy this next one, and Happy New Year! :D**

Chapter Five

Reminders

"...I should have time then," she heard him say when she arrived in his office with the completed folders, and Sakura subconsciously pushed her hair behind her ears as she patiently waited for him to get off to receive. Now that she got everything she heard from Kabuto, she had another plan in motion, except she had no idea WHAT it was. It was two-fifteen, and she had to get to her other job, but class before that.

"Okay, bye, Suigetsu." He hung up then and there, looking up at her expectantly. "You're finished, I take it."

"I am," she answered, "but if it's not a problem, I'd like to take them home to read tonight."

He didn't look up at her as he went back to writing something. He was a little busy; did he care? _No, you don't._ She took that as a yes, but on the other hand: maybe he did care, because she was a grown up woman. And if she said she was gonna do something, he was letting her. "Good day then...Sasuke," she said before walking out.

So, work was normal, but Kiba never showed up. Ino never said a word about him, either, but later when she was home and in her room reading over the booklets, her mobile rang, and it was none other than the dog lover himself. _"Want to go out to dinner?"_

Just as always... "I wish I could say yes. I already ate, but thanks for asking." There was a sound of disappointment on the other end.

 _"Movie then? Ino's been -"_

"I'm in the middle of something," Sakura interrupted. "Maybe this...weekend?" That was, at the end of her day with Sasuke Uchiha of all people. And to her surprise, he seemed understanding when she told him she was reading for work. He took the hint as to which "work" it was, but it wasn't for school. If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was masking his disappointment.

She and Kiba weren't even dating, and he thought they were serious when they barely knew each other. Maybe she could talk to Ino and say maybe this wasn't going to happen, and that Kiba was better off being just a friend. Pig would understand.

Next day, she found Sasuke in his personal entertainment room. The looks of it - it was a small theater with a long TV framed by curtains, and he reclined on a long black leather sofa, one leg crossed over the other. And what made things a bit interesting: there he was in a light blue collared shirt and dark blue jeans. All casual and relaxed. She didn't think she'd really see that part of him. "You finished reading the reports." Him and his statements.

"Yes." He cocked an eyebrow when she laid them down on the empty space beside him.

"Okay, tell me what you learned."

Sakura answered proudly and without a pause, but this wasn't the whole of it. "First, your analysis was damned good." _Because pretty good is an understatement._ And what was priceless was that he looked at her like she grew a second head.

"That means...so much to me." It seemed like he rarely received praise sincere as she gave him. Then she went on, adding that he was really smart. And she meant _every_ word of it.

"I mean, I figured it even before I found out what you do, but what you've written down..." Okay, now that they established he was smart, onto the big deal. "Obviously, companies go to you for recommendations on how to be more efficient and profitable. And from what you wrote, they all could approve." Oh, there it was, the surprise that she never thought she'd see when she pointed out his little flaw and perfection. "You could find faults that I never thought about, and your analysis makes my head spin with revenues and cutting back debt...but I'm a little confused on your recommendation."

He raised an eyebrow. "Oh, really?" It was hard to tell if he was amused or annoyed.

"Just that it seems you're...a little harsh on them. I'm not saying you should be nicer outright, but I wonder why if you're supposed to be helping them..."

"Look, Sakura," he cut in, disbelieved that he was even hearing this, "what you're saying about being a little nicer: my clients don't come to me to be polite and courteous. I never get paid for fluffy compliments."

"Right, but your company is an entity - but it's also run by _people._ People are influenced by emotions," Sakura explained. "Wouldn't it help to be more...diplomatic?" _Diplomatic sounds much better. More professional_.

Uchiha looked like he was considering it, which made her a little happier, but oh man, was he still stubborn as hell. "Look, you made a few reports, and you think you know _everything?_ " He stood up and turned his back to her. "That's enough. Shut the door behind you. I don't care what else you have to say." Super pissed off once again, Sakura humored him and left him.

How could she describe the annoyance she felt later when she heard him upstairs now - and in his personal gym? That made her feel a little relieved to know he had another pastime. Working off a good sweat was productive enough. Maybe she could just go and at least apologize - but when did she ever say she was sorry to _him?_ It was a waste of time as far as she was concerned. When she arrived, she just stood there and watched him in his white muscle shirt, working up that sweat mentioned, and how it made his skin glisten.

He just looked at her blankly and gave her an order to pick up his shirt from the dry cleaner on her way in tomorrow. And now she could head home. It was his way of saying she could leave early so they wouldn't have any further problems today like it always was.

Without a word, Sakura nodded and left.

 _It's working. He won't show it, but I know it's working._

She and Ino were side by side checking the teeth of their patients when she was called out on being quiet - and her friend knew it had to do with her "other boss". "Is it really worth it?" Ino asked, a little worried. "I mean, your dad _could_ find another job eventually."

"No." Sakura shook her head. "It took him _months_ to find this one. He needs stability."

"But what about _you?_ You're working with the Beast."

Sakura couldn't hold back the scoff at the name. "I wish he wasn't called that. Even though he's a jerk like I said, he does deserve...some respect." Ino's blue eyes widened a little. That was her way of saying she owed her whatever it was she was hinting...and the pinkette was just considering telling her everything Kabuto said.

~o~

"Good evening, Sasuke."

He looked up that evening to see Kabuto coming in with some colored folders in his hand, which he recognized as the booklets Sakura left in. He realized he'd forgotten to get them out of there. In his frustration at her pointing out his constant criticisms of the way other companies around him functioned - what did an orthodontic intern know about business anyway? - he went up to the gym which was his way of getting it out and wishing he could sprain some muscles just for the hell of it.

Kabuto put them down. "Dinner's ready. Will Sakura be around to join us?"

"...do you see her here?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, just wondering." Kabuto half turned away with a wink, suggesting something else other than... "Don't wait too long, or the food will get cold." Sasuke could only stare after him as if he'd been smacked again.

If he didn't know any better, he'd say his butler and friend was trying to set them up. _That's hardly likely. This is purely professional, that's all it is. In a couple months, maybe, it will all be done, and life is back to normal. She won't want anything to do with me after this, she'll return to her life, and I'll need another assistant to last._

Somehow that thought bothered him. Where would he find another...assistant like her? To distract himself from these thoughts, he picked up the first of the folders to read.

~o~

Sakura chose to accept it like this, officially: he was gonna keep raising his voice whenever she voiced her opinion, but as far as she was concerned, she understood him enough because they were similar in more ways than one. But that did not mean she would jump the gun and say Kabuto told her everything. That would just blow things up and finish both her and Dad for sure.

What mattered was that progress was being made, and without her knowing it, Sakura was starting to really see that Sasuke Uchiha was still that little boy who never really grew up. Who never knew what it was like to have someone genuinely care for him after his parents and brother were gone. Kabuto had only done so much.

She didn't think too much about this for good reason, but she knew damned well that someone had to care about that man.

When she arrived with his shirt that morning, she went straight to his room, not seeing Kabuto for some reason, and it NEVER occurred to her that Sasuke was still sleeping in his room when she went right in to hang it in his closet. "Oh, God, I'm so sorry! I thought you were in the office."

He was just sitting up, wearing a gray t-shirt and his hair mussed up, making him look more...human. And he was so flushed he looked like a schoolboy! "It's a good thing I wasn't in the shower," he told her with a chuckle, and that made her pause in her step, jaw slackened. Did - did he just _purposefully_ make her flustered?! _But okay, shower...yeah, that would have been doubly worse. Him and those muscles, the towel and little to the imagination...damn it, imagination, you're not helping._

"Y-yeah," Sakura said. "I think I'll go and wait in the office." But before she could go, he surprised her.

"You should take the day off. I don't feel very well."

Sakura blinked. This was the first time he suggested something like this to her. She never thought she would be facing a sick Sasuke Uchiha, and she couldn't help but think maybe it was just his mild flu or whatever that made him think like this, and then it would be back to the way it was when he recovered. "Before I do, you want me to get you something?" she asked. "My mom used to make me honey lemon tea when I was sick as a kid."

His eyes twinkled. "...that's what my mother used to do for me and my brother."

Oh, there it was again. He didn't mention a doctor on hand, so that meant he took care of himself, or Kabuto at least. But here he was, sick in bed, her present, and he had blaringly made it obvious both their dead mothers used to do one thing for them when they were ill.

That was when she was sure she felt the first spark of a connection between her and her temporary employer. "Well, I'll make it for you, or ask Kabuto," she said, but just as she was leaving, he once again surprised her - no, he _shocked her._

"Sakura, this is going to sound strange, but...I'm sorry about my behavior yesterday. You...read everything, and you saw something I never did. So, you're free to take the day off for it. I think I should owe you that much this time."

He...he _apologized_ to her?! This was the first time he did that - and there were no words to describe how...happy she was. Speechless, Sakura hurried out to look for Kabuto before her spinning mind burst. "Thank you, Sasuke!" she called over her shoulder.

~o~

Sakura making him the honey lemon tea his mother used to do for him and Itachi brought back the memories, but it soothed him and allowed him to drop his defenses just that once. However, she didn't stay long enough because he could see she was feeling a little...uncomfortable since this had gotten a little more personal than either were prepared for.

"Can I ask why you keep it?"

Five days later found them in the office again, and it was then that she asked him about the thing in the glass box - the razor that he once used to slice his own wrists when he was sixteen. It was still a sensitive topic for him; he wasn't surprised that she would have found out sooner or later. _Kabuto must have told her._

"Well, did you ever think to take a razor to your skin in your life?" he challenged, but not to make her mad, because he wasn't feeling like it, for some odd reason. It was so foreign because anger was all he'd known.

"...I thought about it once when Mom died, but Dad mentioned he thought of it himself because he loved her so much; he wanted to be with her again so I could live my life - but suicides went to hell. At least, that's what he said."

 _Suicides go to hell...and you once considered it, Sakura? I find it hard to believe._ He never thought there was an afterlife, so to speak, but then again, it wasn't like he ever wasted his time thinking about such things. And as for her mother's death, he found he wanted to know, but it was also sensitive for her as his parents were still to him. "It's a reminder," Sasuke told her, sitting down and looking at her. "To never go there again. Kabuto's parents insisted on it. When they died, Kabuto could have tossed it himself, or me, but some things never go away when you physically toss them aside."

When he was done speaking, Sasuke found himself unable to take his eyes off her - off the entire look of her besides her face, hair and eyes. He never paid attention to these things before, but Sakura had the body of a goddess. No, not like the Vogue swimsuit models. She had womanly curves outlined by the red keyhole sweater, and her waist was trim. He didn't know how to explain this to himself, and he was certain that Kabuto would give more than just simply two cents on women, which was something the Uchiha could not afford right now.

It was at that moment when his mobile rang, and it was again Suigetsu, asking him if he was still up for that dinner party like they talked about. He hated those things, because reasons.

At the same time his desk landline rang, and Sakura answered it. But he tuned her out to listen to his partner who was one of the few to literally see him as someone besides "the Beast", but not as a real friend like Kabuto did.

Calls over, he saw her pick up a packet that he recognized as the presentation that was supposed to go to the Uchiha Agency Board of Directors. "Damn it," he swore, cursing himself for forgetting that. It should have been sent out three days ago, but Sakura saved his skin by taking responsibility. She was heading out now to deliver it personally.

See, now he could finally admit one thing he did like about her: she owned mistakes and fixed them. Perhaps he was happy that he gave her the chance she desired, after all.

 **Whoo hoo, lookie here at what's beginning at last. :D And once again, end of a hectic year and the beginning of a new one.**


	6. Appreciation Versus Envy

**First day of the new year, and I don't really have any resolutions in stone. The last few years taught me that sometimes when you set things in stone, it changes against your will and breaks your heart. I'm going to just let what happens happen. :)**

 **Today was basically relaxing, so I wasn't in a hurry to finish this new chapter. I'm gonna be done with the story in a couple days at most, at this rate.**

Chapter Six

Appreciation Versus Envy

Her dad was very surprised when she came home for her day off, and to be honest, it was the first real one she'd had in ages, but Ino and Kiba weren't available - not that she planned to let him know anyway because she wanted space all to herself to do what the hell she wanted, which felt so strange - to do anything, although she planned to head up to the center during Ino's break for lunch.

Kizashi was still adamant about her working for "the Beast", though he didn't say much anymore ever since she started working for Sasuke. But that was also when they sat down at breakfast, and she told him everything Kabuto told her. Word for word. When she was finished, Kizashi looked like he'd seen a ghost. "...so it's true," was all he could say, then shook his head. "But I never imagined he would try to take his own life like that..."

"I know." _Just like when you at first thought you could do the same so you could be with Mom._ But he didn't because of _her,_ his daughter. In fact, Sakura could never imagine life without her father.

That day was when her dad started to feel a little more sorry for Sasuke Uchiha, and he smiled at her when she told him that she'd been getting through to the angry young man - and he even almost burst into tears when it turned out their mothers used to make them lemon honey on their sick days in childhood.

"However," Kizashi said after swallowing some chicken, "I don't think that his brother killed his parents because of simply 'great importance'." He'd worn his thoughtful frown, complete with the brows forming a single line. _Thanks for figuring out what I just did, Dad._

"I don't either," Sakura agreed, looking into the cup of green tea, "but if only there had been enough evidence to have an idea..." Except it was impossible, and she wasn't even in the federal law to even get access like this, and she still needed more time to gain Sasuke's trust.

Now, on the day she went to give the package to the Uchiha Agency Board like she should have, Sakura found herself in the Great Room of the mansion, which she found herself bewitched by. She'd never been in here before, but it hadn't been touched for a long time because it used to be filled with happier times - parties, gatherings, when Fugaku and Mikoto were still here. Sasuke chose not to have them because of his asocial personality and this being too big and painful compared to everything else.

 _Forgetting about the packet was the first mistake I made - but good thing it wasn't too late._

Sasuke then showed up. "You covered for me on this thing for the board," he said with a little nervous laugh, pleasantly. "I didn't even think about it, and this was a first for me...and that's what I get for taking a day off."

Sakura had to laugh with him. "Me, too." _We're both to blame for taking one day off, how about that?_ "But you were sick, and that's not much to help."

"Yeah, but it's not an excuse. But...thank you for what you did today." He then held out the newest pamphlet in front of her. "I would like you to read this analysis for me, see if it can be more...diplomatic." She could have sworn she saw the faint blush on his cheeks. He really did look like a schoolboy again. "We can go over it tomorrow."

Sakura gazed into his eyes, seeing something she never saw before. Something glimmering on the horizon that stayed in her oculars even as he walked away to leave her to her job. For the life of her, Sakura Haruno had to compare it to the next day as promised when she found herself on the upper veranda level, overlooking the basketball court. She was rereading over what he'd written and she'd corrected overnight at home, until he arrived to join her and read what she'd done. But she had to worry a little since it wasn't complete - _almost_ \- and he insisted because curiosity get the best of him. Humoring him again, she relented and let him see.

His reaction was what she should have braced for, and for a moment, she cursed herself for letting her guard down for even a second.

"'See the good in the manager'," he read. "'Respect the CEO; he brought you in. Too harsh, too critical...too mean. Why do you listen to criticism with no hope?'" When he was done, he looked up with hardened eyes.

"I was going to type them and explain what they meant."

His grip tightened to the point of partially crumpling the papers. "There's no need. They're quite _clear._ Why should I let you finish? There's more?" he demanded when she tried to take it from him. "In that case, I can't wait to hear more on you saying I fail at what I have to do," he snapped.

"Sasuke," she said calmly, "you asked me to help you with this."

"I know, and now I am telling you to stop." Her body reacted just as he turned around and threw the entire thing over the balcony railing, papers flying about, hitting the court and surrounding shrubs in random directions. He just about made a mess like in the early days for her. But no problem; it wasn't something she couldn't do. Sakura said nothing to him and walked down the stairs, not stopping until she was down there and picking up the papers written by her hand.

 _He once said I thought I knew his business because I can_ read. _He claimed to know his clients better...but he doesn't know their emotions as well as I do._

Just like him to arrive when she was still in the middle of it, and in his coat, kneeling to help her. Nothing was spoken a few moments before he took the liberty. He handed her his pick. "I'm sorry."

"You have something you want me to do now?" She did this to him because it was just what he deserved, and he knew it. He sighed, reaching behind him to pull out a sticky note.

"Yeah, I do here, but don't worry about it right now."

Sakura shook her head, putting it into her pocket. If there was one thing she learned she preferred in her time here - "I'd prefer picking up your dry cleaning than have you yell at my work. You asked me to deal with it, and I have - but right now is where I can only go so far."

"Look, I'm trying to be nice!" So, he really was now, huh? Sasuke stood up, but she stayed where she was, gathering more up and no longer looking at him. "You're correct about everything, but...I'm not used to criticism. Before you came along, I never took it well, and when someone gave it to me, I just pushed them aside," he admitted. "Even Kabuto." _How ironic that someone critical as you cannot take criticism from someone else._

"...you got me there," he said when she spoke it aloud. "Sakura, come on." She looked up to see him offering his hand to her. She was stunned. Sasuke Uchiha, the man everyone called "Beast", was giving her his hand to stand when she was finished. When she was up, they began to walk away from this spot and down a path that led into a small forest, leading into another garden which looked like it was filled with rose bushes not yet in bloom. The archway even had slumbering branches that could only be climbing roses.

"I like to be out here when I need to clear my head," Sasuke explained. "This was my mother's garden that she planted with Kabuto's mother. She used to...be kind of like you. She was hard-working, she loved everyone around her - and she worked for my father. He was a strict man, but he did love us all." Sakura wasn't sure if she was surprised or not when she was being told this more about his family. "And when they got married, she had to give it up. It never looks or ends good when personal and business combine. But Mother still helped Father at home the way she did." He gave a faint smile at the memory.

"She must have felt appreciated then," she said softly. He sighed, knowing where this was going.

"I didn't mean to disregard your work."

Sakura chose to change the topic. "The grounds are beautiful. What did your mother plant?"

The archway would have been in bloom with sweet roses white as an iceberg that lasted until the first frost. Then the grounds would be lush and splashing with more roses that were ruby red going into a white heart, as well as daisy-like asters and blue, yellow, white and purple irises. Perfect like a painting. "I don't even bother touching it," Sasuke said, almost inaudible, "because I prefer it to be as she left it. Kabuto knows to keep it alive better than me, I think."

"It all must have been...more than hard for you," Sakura said. It wasn't a lot, but it did prompt a little nod. And then he announced he had phone calls to make, as his way of saying he didn't want to talk anymore about his past.

"I appreciate what you're doing."

~o~

He meant it all when he said he appreciated what Sakura was doing for him. But now he found himself wondering how he could...improve relations out there. He admitted he hadn't had the brightest ideas in a long time since he got this seat, but as far as he was concerned, he was still young and had plenty of time - but most of the old guys still on the board didn't, and as far as _they_ were concerned, he was never going to be up to their standards.

But with Sakura, nothing was impossible. So, in other words, it might not be too late.

He watched her one day, things having gotten more...relaxed now, which he found that he liked as much as she did. He watched from the doorway as she worked on homework from grad school, impressed at how advanced it was. She got undergraduate English as part of her degree.

It wasn't long before Sasuke found himself returning the favor by pointing out an error in the formula she was on, and after that, what could he say? There wasn't a moment where it didn't seem like they might as well be becoming more than just boss and assistant.

Sometimes she would bring him lunch - including tomatoes, one recipe being BLT, which surprised him. She couldn't have known when he never told her, but Kabuto must have done that. Sometimes they would also head into the basketball court, because she used to play the sport in high school. All of this when she wasn't doing the errands and writing the reports for him.

And then, one day, Sakura cooked up a luncheon feast with Kabuto's help. Fish, sushi, ramen noodles - you name it. Although, Sasuke had to let her know that he didn't like sweets when she made tri-colored dango. Not only did sweets made your teeth rotten, they made him think about Itachi. Although, everything else was wonderful. And even more was her cooking - "What did I always tell you, that we needed a woman's touch one day?" Kabuto teased him when she wasn't looking.

At the end of the day, he found himself wondering what else he could do for her. Their relationship was still professional as far as he was concerned, but that didn't mean it was permanent. His eyes opened in that what her father did was an accident, and that urn was really nothing he ever cared about compared to everything else that his parents had left him. He was sorely tempted to just toss her father's work number into the trash, but there was a chance he might need the man again.

Sasuke chose to just keep this aside for the time being and see what else would happen between him and Sakura.

Kabuto's newest suggestion was nothing short of a little clichéd. He'd heard about this being done before, but never did he think he would stoop low and be the romantic hero he believed didn't exist. He'd heard men used it as a trick to lure impressionable young women only for one day to slap them with brutal reality in order to show them there was no such thing as perfect. But Sakura Haruno was no idiot to think like that. Although she'd been like that once, a long time ago, but never once had a serious relationship just as he never had. They were both amateurs.

"You remember what we were told when we were just kids, Sasuke? Trust in your feelings."

 _Trust your feelings..._

Sasuke Uchiha knew there was something beginning that he never imagined would come into his life. It frightened him, because personal was another subject he still had no experience with. If he'd had any girls looking at him a certain way, they were all just scared of him because of the stories still spoken.

Kabuto noticed, as always, his change in aura. "You seem happier, Sasuke. Can't be a grouch forever," he teased with a wink.

~o~

Never did Sakura think she would actually receive a visitor at her other "workplace", though lately she'd found herself wondering if it was going to be that way any longer. It was on this day that Sasuke was showing her how to play pool, since his father had taught him and his brother in childhood - and she ended up learning quick to shoot the target and send it into any of the corners. The black ball with the number eight was the focal.

She was winning when Kabuto showed up and informed her someone was here to see her, but didn't say who it was. Except she had a suspicion...and she was right.

There in the Great Room was Kiba, checking out the empty bird cage that carried nothing more than realistic-looking succulents and bamboo inside. "Kiba, what are you doing here?" Sakura asked, trying to be as nice as possible. Maybe it was being around Sasuke so much that she didn't feel so excited to see Ino's cousin whom she was aware liked her more than she did him.

He looked a little unhappy she wasn't thrilled to see him. After all, she DID tell him where she worked as another job - but she would _never_ tell him why in her wildest dreams since she'd seen the man that nobody but a select few did. "Well, it's been awhile since we were able to get together, so I wanted to see you," Kiba answered, hands in the pockets of his hoodie. She did the same.

"Well," she repeated, "that's sweet, but you should see me at my home, not _here._ "

"You're never there." _You caught me there._ "I always try to catch you there, but you're either here or studying -" He stopped when they both heard footsteps, and they belonged to the man of the house, which Kiba snidely pointed out, and Sakura decided that outside was better, even though her coat was inside, but she didn't plan for them to be out here for long. Whatever it was Kiba was going to say, it could not be heard by Sasuke. He could be watching them from the glass doors and windows from the Great Room that led out here - and showed the path to his mother's gardens.

"Look, I'm sorry for not being around, Kiba," she said when they had each other's full attention. "I'm not going to make anymore excuses for being busy, because Ino..."

"Just why I am here," he stated, a bit rudely now. "Ino is always disappointed when we make plans and you blow us off."

Sakura huffed. "I see her at work all the time, but it's not enough, and I know that. She would have told me herself. We've known each other all our lives." Obviously, that wasn't enough for him.

"Okay, I do get that, but on my part, I hate being disappointed. I want to see you more."

This was one problem she hated, and why she never got serious with a guy in her life: she had a career and a life, and as much as she always wanted to, she had to put her independence and the other people's needs before her own. A guy was among her own needs - unless the right one came along simply because it was fate. "I know, go out to dinner and movies - but Kiba, you're a really nice guy, you're Ino's cousin, and she's really trying to do us both a favor because she cares...but I can't just drop everything to go to a movie with you. Nor can I ditch my father for a restaurant."

"...but you ditched him for HERE. I stopped by the other day, and your dad said he hardly sees you anymore." Now that was uncalled for. She made a habit of huffing again.

If her patience wasn't short with Sasuke in the beginning, it was starting to be that way with this guy. "Why are you getting into my life?" she asked angrily. "I barely _know_ you, and you're visiting my family?"

He was getting short with her, too. "I'm not getting into your business, Sakura. But I want to know...are you _dating_ this guy?" Oh, he was going there now, was he? She was about to burst and say no when he really burst her bubble with this: "If you are, not one of us can compete with Mr. Riches."

"Kiba Inuzuka, you're being mean now."

"Well, I just don't want you getting dragged down to his level because you're spending so much time with him."

"His LEVEL!" she countered. "You know, despite what you and others may think, Sasuke is actually a nice guy!"

Kiba scoffed and burst out laughing, both because she defended the reclusive rich guy who treated everyone beneath him like dirt for years, and because she called him by his first name instead of his last. " _Sasuke_? That's informal," he said, still sniggering. "It would make me feel better if you just call him 'Uchiha-san'."

"Ino and I call Tsunade by her first name, so what's the difference?" She couldn't believe they were even having this conversation. But F.Y.I.: _he_ chose to come here himself, though on the other hand, she was half to be at fault.

Kiba knew nothing. Yes, she didn't see her dad all the time anymore, but he knew her way better than Inuzuka ever would. "The difference," the mentioned guy replied heatedly, "is because your boss here is rich and questionable."

 _Questionable?!_ "I have to get back to work." But just as she opened the door and was about to go in, she just about snapped and cursed the living daylights out of him.

"Fine, just be careful. Sakura, I don't like the idea of you working for this _beast._ "

"Don't. Call. Him. _That_ ," she growled, clenching her fists as she looked down at him, forgetting the door behind her was halfway opened - and neither did she notice that the man himself heard every word. "I appreciate all your concerns, Kiba -" She practically choked on her words, because it hurt that he had such little faith in her, in _Sasuke._ "- but I won't let you disrespect him. Especially when you're standing on HIS property."

He snorted and turned to leave, but not before - "Before I go, I should probably tell you that he broke my nose when we went to high school together."

It no longer surprised her with Sasuke's teenage habits, but to learn from Ino's cousin, the guy really interested in her - but now she was really having second thoughts - it shocked her so much that she wanted to know what happened, but not from this one in front of her. She was done with him, and that was that.

After today, she would speak to Ino in the near future about her cousin's uncalled envy. Because Sakura decided that Kiba Inuzuka got jealous too easily, and wasn't going to take no for an answer. She tried not to worry, because he wouldn't do something so drastic...would he?

 _Sasuke Uchiha was a jerk in the beginning, but Kabuto was right in which we all deal with hard times differently. Me and Dad, Sasuke...everyone._ And speaking of which, as soon as she closed the door, she saw HIS reflection in the glass. "How much...did you hear?" she asked, turning her face halfway to look at him. His shoulders slumped.

"Everything. Maybe I owe you an explanation regarding him..."

 **Wow. Man, you can guess where this is going now with Kiba's growing jealousy. :S**

 **Oh, and if anyone has any suggestions regarding Itachi (IF I bring him back in besides being mentioned), I'm open to suggestions via PM only. Thank you! :)**


	7. Entering the Other's World

Chapter Seven

Entering the Other's World

"We were fifteen at the time," Sasuke explained to her when they were in the sitting room away from where he heard her arguing with the guy who came to see her.

How could he forget Kiba Inuzuka?

He was fifteen, before turning sixteen, as he said, and they were discussing this over none other than hot chocolate that Kabuto had made up for them, because something strong would only make things worse. "We'd been at each other's throats since the start of high school, because we were from good families, but therefore, our lives different. He enjoyed being the one to talk about me out of everyone else, dogging me at every turn, and then one day I lost it on him. He was the one who took the knowledge about my brother to the next level. I never regretted doing that in the slightest - out of the others before him."

Sasuke could almost never remember every face that he bruised and even broke the noses of, but Kiba Inuzuka was the one who gave him the most hell that he took far more personally than any of the others. But now, after all these years, to see him with _Sakura_ \- were they together?

From what he listened in on - without her knowing until Inuzuka was gone - it didn't sound like they were an item, and it made him relieved. Why would she be with the likes of him? It also didn't sound like Kiba changed at all in the years. Why was he not surprised?

"I don't like the idea of you working for this _beast._ " Of course, the guy didn't used to call him that when they were younger, so it didn't surprise Sasuke, either, that he did now like everyone else.

And here was Sakura, defending him. "Don't. Call. Him. _That_. I appreciate all your concerns, Kiba..." Although by the little choke in her voice, she must be far from it. "...but I won't let you disrespect him. Especially when you're standing on HIS property." Sasuke allowed himself to smile a little, and that was when his high school enemy mentioned the broken nose that made her freeze in place. But it didn't seem to make her think less of him. He was more than happy she was siding with him. _She doesn't see me as the monster._

Now, with him done telling her about the many times Kiba would post the foulest of things on the walls and even on Facebook, Sasuke chose to keep quiet on exactly what they said since enough was known as it was - and though he always hid it, they darkened his festering psyche every day until he decided IT that night when Kiba had to mention that he was the "greatest ass in nature - it's a damned shame your brother didn't kill you when he had the chance". When the words hit home, it took him back to what Itachi said to him...

 _"You're not worth killing, foolish little brother."_

Yes, Kiba drove him to nearly take his own life.

When she learned this, Sakura's eyes flashed, and she sputtered like there was no tomorrow. "S-Sasuke, how could he...?"

"Yes," he answered, sipping the chocolate. "But it was years ago."

She shook her head furiously. "No, years ago or not, he made you like this besides you choosing to do all that. If that's the case, then why the hell is he so interested in me, and what am I supposed to do about him now?" she asked angrily, but before he could think or say anything, the doorbell rang. She growled. "Could it be Kiba?" Sasuke pursed his lips and shook his head. If it was, then Kiba could not be stupid to do something as come back for a second time - no, it was the delivery he personally asked to be customized from the flower shop.

"Thank you very much," he told the delivery man after signing his name and taking the flowers in the silver mercury vase, turning to hold them out for Sakura to see, as she had come to stand beside him. Her eyes widened. In the vase were white lilies fresh as fallen snow, paired with miniature roses red as the berries, as well as little waxflowers. "They are...for you," Sasuke mumbled, looking down at the floor. "I never did this before, but I thought you might like them..."

She took them and inhaled before sighing. "I love them, but you shouldn't have done this -" she protested.

He knew she was going to say something like that, because the lady over the phone advised that she would, but he interrupted her calmly. "No, but I wanted to. I thought that they...reminded me of you. Pure and fiery at the same time." _Oh, yes, it means THAT, but damn, Sasuke, change tactics now that you don't know what else to say._ "And, um, I wanted to ask you about Thursday which Suigetsu asked about."

"T-Thursday?" How amusing it was, that something as simple as a bouquet given to her at a random but right time made her forget. He laughed again and clarified.

"Thursday - the dinner meeting with Suigetsu and the board," Sasuke answered. Her eyes sparkled with remembrance. And he wasn't afraid to ask her this: "Are you free that night? Business dinner, and I'd like my...assistant with me."

Her jaw was dropped to the floor and she didn't seem to be aware of it. Chuckling at the show, Sasuke reached to close it for her, putting his finger to her chin and sealing it. "I...have a class, but I should be done by six," she answered.

"Then I shall pick you up at seven."

~o~

Thursday...a dinner date with her boss in front of his partner and the board. Talk about intimidation. She was going to be surrounded by associates that she never met, and compared to them, she never so much as had experiences in their field, besides reading. But not only that, how could she even let go of Kiba's visit - and then Sasuke revealing another truth behind his teenage suicide attempt and before that?

 _Kiba was one of the main bullies to push Sasuke past his limit._

 _He made Sasuke try to take his own life._

And what was worse: he DARED to tell _her_ that he wanted her to be careful around the "Beast"! Who did he think he was?! Did he honestly think that Sasuke wouldn't tell her the truth that he did? He really thought that she and her boss wouldn't start trusting each other, was that it? Now she began to be a little more worried than before. If Kiba could be as bold as that, what was he going to do if he couldn't "compete" with his old high school foe? The one he made miserable himself...

Sakura was torn between telling Ino or not. She was her best friend, this was her cousin - could she have known this? _No, because she never would approve of something like this._

"So...tonight is the big date," Ino said on the day that finally arrived when their shift was closing. Sakura nodded, but that also made her roll her eyes.

"It's not just a date, Pig. A business meeting, that's all." She wasn't sure if she could let go of Kiba's accusation of her and Sasuke "dating", either. They _weren't_ , but why did it rile her so much?

Ino's eyes sparkled. "A business meeting you're getting all _dolled up_ for," she teased, tongue drawing on the words. "You have a dress?"

"Of course." _The one that Mom bought me in high school that I hadn't worn since she died. And it still fits._ "But please don't tell Kiba," she pleaded, looking her friend in the eye, who nodded.

"Yeah, he's gonna get a little jealous. I know. But because you're my best friend, I won't force you to date him."

Sakura smiled gratefully. "Thank you. But it's still no more than a business date. And I don't think Sasuke will _ever_ be anything other than my boss." But when the deal was up, what would happen then?

He was going to pick her up at her house at seven, which was an hour after her class was over, so she had no choice but to hurry and get ready when the time came. And when she was ready, she found herself looking in the mirror to see what was a form of her old self. The dress was made of velvet, dusty rose and almost matching her hair, and had short sleeves as well as a ruched bodice. Her favorite earrings remained as they were, since they were all she really loved wearing in her life.

The hour approached seven, and she was so excited now that her dad even noticed. "Kumquat, if I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted to date the 'Beast'," Kizashi teased when he looked her over. "Man, you look just like you did then."

"And what does that mean?" she teased, batting her lashes and picking up her black shawl. "Dad, it's not a real date. First Ino and now you - I think I could only take so much." _But Kiba is another story. If he finds out, what is he going to say or do?_

"Okay, okay, just asking. But after this...I can't help but wonder," Kizashi said, and there it was, "what about when the deal is up? Could he drop it just like that or keep it to the end? And what could happen afterwards is what's concerning me. There's that Kiba fellow..."

"Daddy," Sakura interrupted with a little sigh, wrapping the black cotton around her shoulders, "Kiba is not my type. I don't want to deal with him right now, and after his visit at the Uchiha Estate days ago, it's solid. He's turning into a jerk. He thinks Sasuke and I are dating, but it's not true. And if he so much as finds this out..." Her dad got the hint when she stopped the sentence, and nodded. At the same time, they heard the sound of a vehicle pulling up.

 _He's here._

She stepped out there, holding onto her coat - which she would need when the evening was over - so he could see her. Her father stayed in the doorway and watched her and between Sasuke who couldn't take his eyes off of her. And she couldn't take her eyes off him either, in his black suit and light blue shirt - before he snapped out of it and went around to open the door for her like a gentleman. "You look...very nice," he said just as she went up to him. Timidly, blushing a little besides from the cold, she thanked him and got inside.

She heard him inhale and thought maybe he smelled her perfume. The scent still reached her nostrils. It was lush, with rose, jasmine, orange and sandalwood. And as soon as he was in the car, he didn't yet start the engine, but he told her to look in the glove compartment. Furrowing her brows, Sakura opened it up, and there was nothing much but some papers, but one thing stood out in the form of a little white box, and inside was something that was starting to be a bit much just like when he gave her the flowers.

First he gave those blossoms - and on the day he told her what Kiba did to him and his retaliation - but now he was giving her a _necklace_. A green crystal shaped like a teardrop was placed amidst a sculpted piece resembling underwater coral, in gold against silver. Although, Sakura couldn't find the words to refuse him.

If she didn't know any better, she'd say he was really starting to treat her as a princess and an _equal._

~o~

Out of everything else, Sasuke chose the necklace because he just happened to be out one day and saw it in the jewelry store. He was compelled to get it because it was a simple piece of paradise. And then when he came to pick her up, he thought the wind was knocked out of his lungs at the sight - and sweet smell, when he stood beside her and opened the door.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Suigetsu called them over to greet, and when his eyes rested on Sakura, he whistled. "Wowza, Sasuke, you really did pick the first and right one." The Uchiha narrowed his eyes at the implication, and it was dropped when introductions were made to Suigetsu as well as the other men at the table, and immediately it was down to discussions before the food would be served. Behind them, a warm fire was going in the electrical fireplace.

At first it seemed shutting the model down and letting people go was going to be worth it for them all, but what about pensions and such? It had been taken into consideration, but it always came down to this. Sakura stayed quiet the majority of the night, but listening intently. But he could see that she was troubled by this very much, except she was unsure whether or not she should speak.

 _If she could speak to me, she can do so to these men._

"Well...are you sure you want to let go of the people you already have?" she asked, looking around at every one of them.

"Lay-offs are part of business," one said, and Sasuke would never forget him, for he was one of the chiefs who dared to challenge him when he first joined.

She nodded. "Yes, but a new model will take a lot of manpower. With a little training, couldn't they easily take over the new production? Or find new people who already know how to do the job?" she suggested. He happened to like this, personally. Training would take time, but they were all better off. And the man who questioned his assistant was still trying to pester her - just like _he_ had done to her.

"You don't know some of our people, Haruno-san. Change doesn't come easily." Her eyes twinkled.

"You're right about that. However, it never does. But with the alternative, you'd be surprised as to how many employees are willing to go through training..." Now her green irises locked with his dark ones, knowingly. "No worries about new hires, quick turnovers. Just think about all the time and money wasted on employees that bail after the initial bonus kicks in."

Which meant training the employees based on company policies and procedures. "Then perhaps, Sasuke, you can look into that when you come to our New York facility," the old man told him. _Gladly._

The rest of the evening was very smooth, and soy-dipped steak was served along with chicken entrees, sushi platters and finally every option of sweets, which Sasuke knew he would refuse because of his lack of a sweet tooth. But to watch _Sakura_ and that pink tongue as she delicately licked about the soy-dipped white balls, it caused a lump to form in his throat. Then a certain part of his body in the name of those things started to...

Why the hell did this happen, and why at a time like this?!

He hadn't felt like this since he was a teenager, and the many times he recalled masturbating was a release of tension to help him sleep at night. He didn't know if it was even a good idea since he was aware of what could happen without protection. Even then, marriage was too great a step for him to take, and even if he WAS interested in a willing woman, would she have cared for him as _Sasuke_ and not some human wallet?

He needed a little more time, maybe a week or so, to think about this.

Not only was it himself, but he didn't want to make _her_ feel like she owed him in this way.

His stomach tightened into a knot when her eyes flickered over to him and then roamed over his body as if having an idea what might be wrong with him. Sasuke cleared his throat and reached for his wine glass, which earned a few raised eyebrows, but he assured them all he was fine - when the truth was far from it.

He was relieved when the alcohol dampened the pit of his stomach by the time the evening was over, and they were just grabbing their coats and leaving. To distract himself from his unwanted thoughts, he congratulated her on how well she did tonight. "Only I doubted that one old man appreciated what I had to say," she said with an awkward smile. He laughed.

"He doesn't have your...compassion." The moment he said that, another spark may have flown.

"You know, compassion can't be a bad thing in business."

Sasuke nodded. "But I never said it was." _Except I never thought it was reliable or suitable, either._ He found himself looking at his watch, surprised at how it wasn't that late. "Um, do you have some time right now?" He just hoped that it wouldn't involve that reaction in his body sparking again, because there was something else he wanted to show her besides his mother's gardens; this place was beyond there, and more private where he would sometimes clear his head.

This spot was further in the forest. Snow glittered across the landscape. The mountains were gracefully and randomly curved, with evergreen and birch towering to the skies which glittered with stars and streaked with smoky gray clouds. It was like a painting. "This is...beautiful," Sakura breathed. "So peaceful..."

"My brother used to come up here," he told her, feeling a pang. "He'd bring me with him. He loved it up here. And it was where he would do his...training."

She looked at him with a wrinkled nose. "Training?" Sasuke looked ahead as his mind began to open again to the good memories before it all turned dark.

"Itachi wasn't only going to one day be in my position, but he was the youngest ever to be placed in the ANBU Black Ops."

The Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai - also known as ANBU, meaning "Dark Side" - was a special assassination and tactics unit long a part of the government, in which age had no significance, but years ago with what his brother had done, it was disbanded and dissolved, but that was all Sasuke ever knew. His brother had been put in for reasons that he never understood, and no one would ever tell him. Because of what happened to him and his parents, he gave up altogether ever wanting to know because it only caused him more pain. Sakura's eyes widened at this knowledge.

"He...got into the assassination squad at how old...?"

"He was thirteen," Sasuke answered. "As far as I was ever aware of, that's the age that you have to enlist. I never understood in all my life why he would join, and our father never told me this. Because I started to hardly see Itachi anymore; he'd be gone for months at a time...until the night I came home to find him over our parents' bodies. I always remember what he said to me..." He stopped there, squeezing his eyes shut, and halting in their current place.

This spot was none other than a fallen tree trunk for them to sit on. The stars overhead provided much needed light, although a moon would have made it better. "I was thinking this very carefully before I thought of asking you," Sakura said, looking at him but not making direct eye contact. "You never wondered _why_ he did it?"

Sasuke felt like a bolt had broken out of his system at the question. No, he never wondered. He was too wrapped in his grief and his resentment to even think about that. But now it was impossible to even speculate. He'd prevented himself from being too far down that dark path that almost claimed his life. Itachi and Kiba, the others like them...he did his best and with so much effort, help from Kabuto and his parents, to not even think about it anymore. "No," he answered. "But since Itachi could still be out there, I always kept to my promise that if I saw him again, I would make him pay." She shook her head.

"As much as I respect that choice, I don't know if that would help you. Didn't he say that you...wouldn't understand? To me, that hints more than just because."

Everything she said clicked, but so many years had gone by, the one who changed his life forever was gone, another still here and thought to take his assistant away over a misunderstanding - but here she was, looking out for him based on understanding despite never being there before as he had.

But she knew loss of a family, just like he.

"And I hate to say it like this, but there had to be a reason he..."

"...killed them," Sasuke finished somberly, closing his eyes. _But what could it have been?_ "I wish I knew there was a way to find out now, but as I said, I never bothered. And the police never found anything in a motive."

Suddenly, Sakura did one thing he never thought she would: she leaned over and placed her head against his shoulder. Something very warm washed over him. "S-Sakura," was all he could manage.

"I'm so sorry. But...what happened when you woke up and he was gone?"

"Just that I ended up in the hospital, no real wounds, and praying it had all just been a nightmare, that Mom and Dad were alive...but the police changed it all. They told me Itachi hadn't been found, and I told them everything I knew. After that, Kabuto and his parents returned when they heard the news. And you know how my life turned after that..."

Sakura said nothing to that, but then... "I get we all deal with loss differently, but what about growing and learning from the experience?" Something in Sasuke snapped, but not the way he treated her early on.

"Growing? I took to punching other boys because of what they said about me, I cut my own wrists in the bathtub, I ended up in a padded cell for a year - I put my life on hold and still managed in the place I am at now."

"Sometimes bad things happen to good people."

He said nothing to that, but he nodded and decided now was a good time to bring her home. Now they were inside the warm and cozy luxury - and that was when he chose to ask her about her mother, Mebuki Haruno.

~o~

Thursday night had been nothing short of memorable. Dealing with cynical old men far better than she did before, although not many raised their voices as Sasuke used to do, and Suigetsu Hozuki really was something else. That guy could have been Sasuke's friend like Kabuto, but it didn't seem he would have lasted as long as the silver-haired man had.

Sakura enjoyed sitting out in the snow, under the stars, with him telling her more about what he had to suffer alone. After he got into trouble, cut his wrists and then more rumors got nastier...what else did he have, right? _More than you realize._

The topic eventually switched to him asking about her mother in the car as he drove her home. Outside, he revealed more about his family - and how special Itachi was, in not so many words, but the knowledge he'd been in a shady operation at such a tender age gripped at her in more ways than one - and now inside the warmth of his car, she would reveal her turn.

"My mom would have been very understanding if she heard what I have, although at the time...it happened," she said with a fidget of her coat sleeve, "that's when I first started hearing the rumors myself. At first she believes what she hears, until someone else opens her eyes for her." She sighed. "Ever since she died, I did everything I could to make up for not being there for Dad, because I was all he had left." _Things would have been way bad if I never came back home._

Sasuke furrowed his brows. "Where were you when she died?"

"I was in Tokyo for a year for my education. Dad called one day and said she died, so I returned." Every word spoken, every moment, was still fresh like it was yesterday. She was nineteen when Mebuki was killed in the car crash. It was an evening when she and her husband were having dinner. The tire had somehow exploded and took them off the road. The car then flipped over and landed on the roof, killing Mebuki and rendering Kizashi unconscious.

By the time he awoke, she was already gone. He lay there for about three hours, or maybe more since it felt like forever, and you'd think that someone would come by in time on a highway like that. But no saving grace would bring his wife back, and Kizashi was ridden with survivor's guilt for almost a year since then. As a way to cope with his grief, he buried himself in working to the point of exhaustion as his way of wanting to commit suicide instead of something direct as a knife or overdosing his medication. He'd been so desperate that one time he did consider killing himself so he could be with her - but in the end, Sakura had kept him from doing something rash. Moving back to Konoha and rekindling old friendships as well as settling into the chair of assistant was enough to make herself, her dad and everyone happy. She tried to comfort Kizashi and herself in the fact that the tragedy happened for a reason.

Now she found herself thinking maybe it did. If she hadn't come back, she never would have met this man.

 **Kiba calling Sasuke what he did, the "greatest ass in nature", came from what two well-known historical monarchs (George II and Caroline of the Georgian Era) spoke of their eldest son (Frederic, Prince of Wales) whom they treated with contempt and suspicion.**

 **God my heart moved so much. Just wait until next chapter when we get more than just moving hearts... ;D**


	8. Does True Love Exist?

**I would have had this out the day before, but it had to be carefully done. ;D**

 **You'll never believe what I sometimes hear nowadays, in that there are people criticizing both the Disney "Beauty and the Beast" as well as the fairytale itself. They say it's a case of Stockholm Syndrome on Belle's part, others call it overall glorified domestic violence. F.Y.I to those: Belle is NOT in love with her captor because of warped perspective. She never let him trample her; she put her foot down, put him in his place, and stood up for herself. HE was the one who needed the real rescuing. Whoever is saying this BS is nothing but a fool.**

 **When I was thinking of a title for this chapter, I really was stumped for something passionate, but then again, a simple and typical title can mask the surprise...**

Chapter Eight

Does True Love Exist?

"You look like you had a...night," Kizashi noted when she came home that evening. Maybe her cheeks were pink because of the cold; she could still feel it. "Did something happen after the dinner meeting?" He cracked her a grin that made her red enough that she shrugged off her coat and hung it on the rack.

"Dad, don't be silly! Nothing of the sort happened. After that, he just took me out to sit under the stars, and we talked more about each other." _Including Mom._

"Oh, I'm sorry, kumquat. But usually after dinner, there is -"

Sakura quickly put her hands over her ears to block out what he was saying, biting her tongue to keep from saying something else, but she did hear his laughter as she hurried to her room. Her father had really feared Sasuke Uchiha, was threatened by him, but now he was making jokes about them getting together.

She was starting to think that her dad was really trying to set her and her boss up without being direct. However, at the end of the day, it was her choice what to make happen with Sasuke and herself.

He took her to dinner - and met with his colleagues - and that meant she literally took another step into his world. Now it was her turn...but _how?_

She found herself in her room that same Thursday night, when she found herself looking through the DVDs her family owned. There were many classics from the fifties and sixties in this country - and a couple caught her attention very much. She had a plan. Tomorrow, she would bring this to Sasuke's attention, and maybe next week they could do this at his house if they had time? _Mostly me than him since he has plenty._

These films were such masterpieces that she had a feeling they would be up his alley. A busy man like him couldn't have had much time to think about something like this before, or was she wrong?

The next day, she asked him if he was interested in a movie night here, and surprisingly he said yes. "I used to enjoy it with Kabuto, but then, somehow, it just stopped," he admitted. "What do you have in mind?" She grinned at him when she told him the answer, and his eyes just about popped out of their sockets with recognition.

"...haven't seen them since I was in high school, but I never had interest in them."

"You're in luck then." Sakura grinned. "How soon do you want to _enjoy_ them?"

He chuckled and took them both from her. They were in his office, he at his desk, and he turned over _Kwaidan_ to read the back in an attempt to refresh his memory. That one was as much of a treasure as the other was. She remembered when her parents were both children when this came out, and at first people were disappointed because it lacked excitement you'd expect in ghostly media, but once it sank its teeth into your psyche, the artistic, dreamlike tales would haunt you with the morality and human spirit for the rest of your life.

"In that case, how does next Friday night sound, if you have nothing going on?"

One more week from tonight might have seemed like forever.

~o~

"Sasuke, dinner and movie at home with the lady," Kabuto noted as he was busy in the kitchen that night, and they were both making dinner before she arrived. This primarily was rice balls with mackerel filling and wrapped with seaweed, as well as green tea and a sweet treat called _hanabiramochi,_ which was usually served at the first tea ceremony of the new year. He made it clear sweets weren't for him, but he figured she might like this. The white _mochi_ around the _anko_ bean paste was white, centered with pink, but not sealed on the sides, because there was also a thin strip of a stick from the _burdock_ plant.

He wasn't even sure why an actual plant stick was in display like this. But on second thought, when he licked off the sugar of one of the remainders - he cringed a little at the sweetness - he decided he could enjoy this for himself, so Sakura didn't feel left out.

The week to pass seemed like forever, and each day that went marked towards the end of this month, which made him realize that he'd known Sakura Haruno for an _exact_ month now.

On Friday night, the third to last day of January, Sasuke found himself waiting anxiously for her in the kitchen, helping Kabuto get the food ready just as the outside gate opened. She had arrived. Half of him considered asking her if she wanted to stay the night with him, but there was a chance her father could ask her questions. But his daughter was a grown woman who could make her own decisions.

Sasuke had the entire week as promised, and it was then that he got himself a small pack of protection with the expiration date until the next month on the final day. He thought to go small because if she wasn't ready...

"Oh, looks great!" She stood there, and she looked very sweet and relaxed. Her dress was olive green, peasant-like, the shoulders bared, and the front of the dress was embroidered with a tribal print. He held his breath at the sight of her legs outlined by brown tights and boots that reached her knees. And in her hands was a bowl covered with aluminum foil, which she pulled back to show pieces of sliced _nashi_ pear, citrus, red _yangmei_ fruits, persimmon and apples. "Because I know you don't like sweets," she said, giving it to him, and her eyes sparkled when he exchanged the omelet-like _mochi_ with her.

"How does your father feel about you being here tonight?" Kabuto asked. She giggled a little.

"Dad is going to be gone for the weekend. He was called away out of town, which is a rarity for him. Apparently, an old friend of his from when they were boys asked him if he wanted to be away from the house so they could catch up on old times. He'll be back on Sunday." Which meant that they would be all alone for the weekend - and Sasuke quickly caught how inappropriate that sounded.

She brought with her _Ugetsu_ and _Kwaidan_ , two Japanese films that were adapted from well-known stories with moral lessons and supernatural entities. When they sat with Kabuto, himself sandwiched between them, and they enjoyed the rice balls and tea, the first showed absolute promise even if Sasuke hadn't read the Ueda stories in a long time.

Taking place in the Azuchi-Momoyama period, the main story told of a civil war, and there were two men. One was a farmer and pottery maker with a wife and child, and they seemed like a happy family even if they had so little. The father and husband, however, seemed to have wider ambitions - and his idiotic friend was no better. The friend's wife seemed to be the voice of reason. Then one night, the army sweeps and attacks, forcing all to flee, but then the potter saves as much as he can of his work. Then as the couples journeyed up the lake, a man who was attacked by pirates came to them on a boat and died moments later - which proves an opportunity for both men, who leave their families, but the dreamer's wife, stubborn as hell, refused to let him leave her. But the farmer/potter's wife, with their son in arms, pleaded with her husband to stay with them, only he promised he would return for them when he had so much money for them.

This was bound to not end well from the start.

In the market was when the troubles began. With the potter himself, he sold his work very well - and one day a beautiful noble lady and her maid approached with interest in his art, and then they bring him to her manor. The story supposedly was that soldiers ravaged the place and killed all but the lady and her servant - and her father's spirit supposedly haunted the place, still. It wasn't long before the seduction began and then the marriage despite the fact the man had a wife already...and meanwhile, she and their son were in danger back home.

Again, meanwhile, with the samurai dreamer, he slipped away from his wife to purchase samurai armor and the likes, in which his wife eventually goes off to look for him only to be raped by a group of samurai. This led eventually to her becoming a concubine. Now this he discovered when he returned a victorious warrior himself, presenting the head of an enemy, and then finds her in a brothel where a heated argument breaks out and the guilt gnaws at him for his foolish mistakes. Sasuke had to smile when the idiot threw his armor into the river.

Then back to the potter who was an equally bigger fool. Then came the revelation the woman he was married to was actually a spirit. He meets a priest who hopes to save him by writing a rite on his back to exorcise the spirit who refused to let him go. She'd been in the world so she could experience the joy of love which she had been deprived of in her previous life. The confrontation ended with him grabbing his sword and throwing himself out of the mansion only to wake up and find it nothing more than rubble as it had been. Soldiers find him and take away his possessions, leaving him to return home to his wife - who is beyond happy to see him, and nothing else mattered...or so it seemed.

By the next morning, the man got yet another terrible, nasty surprise. His wife had been killed by soldiers in his absence. Their son had been cared for by the village chief. The film ended then and there with a funeral service being prepared for her, and he hears her say she would always be with him. It was all in all, bittersweet.

 _This is filled with neglecting family, a forbidden relationship with a spirit, and the struggles of surviving in war - and the fact your actions have consequences._

"Oh, man, you're really shedding a tear, Sasuke," Sakura told him, reaching up to wipe away the corner of his eye. He blinked; he hadn't realized he'd been crying. Kabuto chuckled and stood up to replace this movie with the next.

Four stories - three of which he enjoyed most of all - in this one.

 _The Black Hair_ overall told of how a samurai left his poor but devoted wife for a cruel, selfish noblewoman so that he could attain social status. With wealth came great unhappiness, and the more time passed, the more he came to regret his actions. And when the second wife discovered this, she lashed at him, which made the final decision for him to return to his true love...only to be faced with a grotesque discovery after what seemed to be a happy reconciliation. Nothing was EVER as it seemed - but the man also got what he deserved, in a way. _At least he realized his error._

The second segment to come was Sakura's personal favorite, _The Woman of the Snow._ During a raging snowstorm, a young woodcutter and his mentor took refuge in a hut by the river - and it wasn't long before a _yuki-onna,_ which meant "snow woman", arrived to suction the life out of the old man, and she spared the young man simply because she saw him handsome and young...but on pain of death, she made him swear NEVER to tell anyone, even his mother, what he saw tonight. He then finds himself home to his mother, and a year passes before he sees a beautiful woman named Yuki; her resemblance to the ghost was uncanny in his eyes, and it's clear at first sight that they are in love, and his mother grows to adore her, too. They eventually wed and have three young children. Life seems perfect and peaceful, until the man made the gravest error of his life when he finally told her the night he saw the "snow woman", and that was when she revealed that she _was_ the spirit. She becomes furious that he broke their vow, which was supposed to bind them for life, but she doesn't kill him simply because of their children. It was then that she leaves, but not before threatening him with painful death if he so much as mistreated them. He is left devastated and alone.

Sasuke felt his heart clench, but he didn't weep again. This man had been through a "wrong place, wrong time" scenario, and he could never have known the woman in the snow was the woman he would fall in love with...but either way, a promise was a promise.

For some reason, _Hoichi the Earless_ took epic to the next level, if told in simplistic form. The flashbacks of the war between two clans, during the battle of Dan-no-ura, was told in art in its most ambitious yet. Eventually, they met Hoichi, a blind musician who was prided with retelling the epic battle between the Taira and Minamoto clans in the final stage of the war, only to be frequently called by what appeared to be a royal family deep in the woods - which eventually got the attention of his priest and friends who then go to desperate measures to protect him by writing the sacred text all over his body, to hide him and to have him sit as still as possible when the spirits came...but they missed the last and most important part of his body, which were his ears. Hence he became known as the Earless Hoichi after they were ripped by force in an attempt to take him back to perform the tale.

There wasn't much to say regarding _In a Cup of Tea_ , for it simply told of a writer who eagerly anticipated the publisher whose story covered a samurai who repeatedly saw a mysterious man's face in his own cup of tea, hence driving him to insanity levels.

All in all, a symphony of color, story and prose. "One of...the most beautiful collection of ghost stories in one I've seen," he told Sakura as soon as it was over. By this time, the hour was late, and they had tomorrow to work, and she was welcomed to stay the night since her father was gone for the weekend. Sasuke was a bit surprised she'd packed an overnight bag to bring here. He had a feeling she assumed this might happen, but she didn't seem to have it in her to ask him. Chuckling, he assured her she could ask him this anytime.

"There's a guest room for you that hasn't been used, so it's yours..."

~o~

The guest room happened to be none other than the room he gave her to work in when she wasn't doing errands; that included the bed with the silver floral comforter. How time flew, right? Sakura found herself looking around it with real appreciation and thanked both the master and Kabuto for this. And if you were wondering, she did have a feeling that she would end up being too tired to drive home after they spent that relaxing evening enjoying a fantasy drama as well as a collection of spooky stories. But at the end of it, they had more than enough fun.

After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Her bag included shampoo and conditioner, her favorite perfume, tooth cleaning supplies and so on, and the outfit for the next day. When she was done, she slipped into the nightshirt which was navy blue with tiny pink rosebuds all over. The sleeves were three quarters long. She noted the time was approaching eleven, and she was tired from both the delicious food, the movies - and just sitting next to Sasuke the entire time.

Although, when she fell asleep, she found herself dreaming in a way that enhanced what had slowly been growing over the last month.

 _She lay beneath him as his smooth, muscular body rubbed against hers. She moaned and held onto his back as she wrapped her legs around his waist, his masculine length rubbing against her in a way that made her head tilt backwards, and the sensitive parts of their chests rubbing against each other, amplifying tenfold..._

And when she woke up, her lower body was aching in a way she hadn't felt since she was a hormonal teenager going through _that_ stage. But Sakura didn't want to use her hand to relieve herself of this problem; if she ever thought about it as an adult, she would have her partner relieve it.

But as soon as Sakura was out of bed and just leaving the room, it was barely even one in the morning. What was she thinking, getting out in the middle of the night because of a stupid wet dream? But it happened for the first time, on a night like this, and though she wasn't a foolish child anymore, she was sure that she could make this decision. She wasn't ever afraid of him when she decided to come to work for him, for the sake of her father. She wasn't scared in the weeks to follow.

But this was something else entirely.

And at the same time, it seemed like fate had been on her side - or should she say, _both_ their sides?

He stood there in the middle of the hallway, down the corridor where his bedroom was, and hers had been further down the hallway. It looked like he couldn't sleep either, but why? It was then that she saw the look in his eyes. Smoldering and tired - but alert and aware. He was in his t-shirt along with dark shorts that showed his legs. His eyes roamed over her but said nothing.

"I...couldn't sleep," Sakura said finally, and it seemed like her legs were moving on their own - and before a second passed, he was moving her way as well, and they stopped until they were inches away.

"I couldn't either," he admitted.

She looked down nervously, biting her lower lip before releasing it. "What was your reason?"

He chuckled, looking off to the side. "A...dream I had. I'm not sure how to explain it without wanting to retreat back to my room. Just that as soon as I woke up, I didn't know what to do." Sakura looked at him with surprise. _Just like me._ He must have known what she was thinking, for his face was inching a bit closer to hers now.

"If I'm not being that straightforward, was it...something more personal?"

Sakura nodded, unable to speak now, but she eventually forced it out. "...yeah. I didn't know what to do either. It was something that I never expected. And I'm not sure if it's the right thing to do, at this time..."

"Well, I guess we can agree on this one fact: trust your feelings," Sasuke said, his lips grazing over her cheek. "We're both adults; I think we can handle this, Sakura. We both want this, except..." He sighed. "I'm a little concerned it could change our stand." That was what she was also concerned about, but like she said, what was the worst that could happen? They'd both never done this before, so there could always be something they never expected.

But it wasn't like they anticipated the road coming to _this._ Once you crossed this street, there was no going back. Should she dare to take that walk...?

Decision made in a heartbeat, Sakura took his hand and ran it over the start of her thigh which was beneath the end of her shirt, and didn't stop until he was cupping her breast. It was bold, but as soon as his palm rested over the peak which was hardening, she shivered. He looked a bit taken aback, and his hold closed a bit tighter, increasing the friction and going straight down to her groin. She pushed her body against him now and he wrapped his free arm around her waist to keep her...

...and their lips smashed together in a heated frenzy.

The spark that had begun turned into a flame that needed more wind to grow.

 _Maybe there IS such a thing as true love._

 **"Kwaidan" and "Ugetsu" are wondrous Japanese treasures, and they are worth a watch if you can find them. :D I think the last time I found "Ugetsu" was when it was on YouTube, and "Kwaidan" you have to look for on DailyMotion (or anywhere else).**


	9. The Border Crossed

**Before anybody reads, be prepared to get a glass of wine (or any favorite drink, if you're legal age, of course) or otherwise something sweet to excite you because of what happens in here. :$**

 **Love scenes are one of my specialties, and therefore have to be handled with extreme care, because we can't have people disgusted or disappointed if it's rushed or given detail that makes you cringe. I've never done that in all my time here, but you still can't be too careful.**

Chapter Nine

The Border Crossed

 _Her body beneath his, her breasts rubbing against his chest as his body dominated hers, and their sensitive lower parts together to create a powerful wave of passion..._

He awoke in a flash, and that was the last straw. He felt the raging in his lower body, because that was the second time he remembered _dreaming_ about Sakura, but he didn't realize he was walking in her direction until he found himself in the hallway...in which she happened to be standing out there at the same time. Was it coincidence or fate?

He just told her that he couldn't sleep, and she said she couldn't either. He meant it when he said he couldn't explain it without wanting to retreat back into his room. It was early morning, the sky was still dark, and it hadn't been that many hours since they went to their separate rooms. But here they were, standing so close together now - and it turned out she had a dream she couldn't explain, too.

"If I'm not being that straightforward, was it...something more personal?" Sasuke couldn't help but ask, leaning close and inhaling her sweet scent, his lips grazing over her flesh. His body temperature raised with each second they remained like this. She agreed with him when she said she was unsure if this was the right time now, but there was another: they were adults, and this could be something they would be able to handle.

Although this was also a risky decision...which she seemed to make on her own when she took his hand and brought it up to run over her bared thigh, the feel of her skin and the emboldened action making him swallow, until finally his palm felt her breast. It was as if his train of thought had been ceased against his will. The heavy flesh felt squishy at the same time, and it felt...pleasant. It also sparked the reaction from her in which she sucked in a breath as the peak hardened like a flower bud ready to bloom.

Her body pushed against him, and his arm went around her waist. Neither were in control of the moment when their lips desperately smashed against each other. His hold on her waist tightened, and he released her breast to join its companion when he clutched both of her hips and then moved down to her firm, shapely backside, hoisting her up and wrapping her legs around his waist to turn around and bring her back into his room, since the guest bed she was given wasn't made for two people with what they both knew they were going to do.

"Sasuke, before we -" He knew what she was going to say, and he held up his hand as he walked around the bed to find the drawer on his side. He pulled out the box of condoms. Her eyes widened. "You _knew?_ "

"Just was hopeful," he answered, opening the box and taking one out to lay on the table surface. He then moved to remove his t-shirt, just as he heard the rustle that was her removing her night shirt, which he thought had fitted her to a tee.

And when he turned around to look at her, he felt his jaw hit the floor.

Slim legs, trim hips - an hourglass body complete with perky breasts peaked a rosy shade darker than her hair. But what struck him as equal was the fact he saw the smooth triangle at the base of her thighs and visible slit. The blood burned in his cheeks, his stomach coiled, and his groin hurt most of all. He had the most painful erection he could remember in his life.

"...are you going to drop the boxers now, Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke did just as she asked, smirking to one side. "Hn...now you get to finally see a naked man, right, Sakura?" he drawled, making her blush deeper. Human beings really had a weakness for bodily reactions in themselves and the other. He then moved to slip back into his bed, breaking eye contact for the moment, and it was then that she followed, crawling atop him and pushing the covers down so there was nothing but them and their bodies. A feast for the eyes.

If he didn't know any better, he'd say Sakura Haruno transformed into a little naughty minx before his eyes, for someone who was supposed to be an innocent little virgin. Although, he remembered she had read up and studied in her life, so this shouldn't have surprised him. Her breasts jiggled in front of his eyes, tempting him like two melons. Sasuke leaned up and took a nipple into his mouth, making her sigh a little. She leaned closer for him to have more. She smelled so good, so sweet, but not enough to make him sick to his stomach. Perhaps because it was Sakura.

She sniffed him then when she came to lay her body atop his, just for a moment. One thigh wrapped around his hip, her silken womanhood rubbing against him briefly, but the spark was still there, slowly warming into the fire that had been spreading without containment. "You smell good, Sasuke. What is in here?"

He chuckled. That was some good talk when they were about to make love. _That sounds much better than just sex._ "It's citrus, lavender and sandalwood," he answered. He then placed a kiss on her shoulder when she pushed her hair aside as she looked at him.

"I like it." Sakura then kissed him on the cheek. This was more like an innocent make out session, like the two innocents they were, but it was also building up for more. Their lower bodies pressed together was proof of that. Sasuke then took control and reversed their positions, rolling her onto her back and finding himself over her. The fire was too much now; time might have felt forever, but it was not an issue. Who knew what was going to happen in the morning, but they were too far in to turn back now.

He reached over to pick up the wrapped rubber and tore it open with his teeth before taking it out and bringing it down to place over the tip of his manhood. He gritted his teeth at the _very good_ pressure applied to the sensitive tip, going throughout his length. He was surprised when her hand came over to run through the wild forest of black hairs crowning the base of his aching need. Sasuke couldn't stop the sharp exhale that escaped him when her fingernails gently scratched him without breaking the delicate skin. He had to bat it away then so he could bring his hips against hers, feeling the soft petals part to release saccharine nectar on him. He hadn't realized it would be that sweet, because biology was hardly ever pleasant in sense and smell.

"Is it going to hurt?" he asked, remembering the basics, but he could have sworn that for a female - when it was man and woman - that it would hurt her the first time. She had something called a...what was it again? A thin piece of skin in there that showed she hadn't been with a man, but when it was gone, then it meant unlimited access.

She nodded. "Just for a moment, I think. I'll be fine," she assured him, patting his shoulder, but she sounded a little unsure herself. He bit his lip and slowly inserted himself further in. The skin inside was slick and wet, hot like lava. He wasted no time sheathing all the way to the hilt, and it was then that he could have sworn he felt himself breaking something in there, because she hissed and clutched his forearms, digging her nails into his skin enough to make it break. He grunted at the tear of his flesh and little river of blood.

"I'm sorry, Sakura."

"It's fine."

They went at it like two flames dancing against the shadows, the powerful sensations driving their bodies to overlap their limits. Each thrust brought them closer to the edge - and nearly rolling off the bed on both sides when it got too far - before the eruption of white-hot pleasure between their bodies rendered them passing into a deep slumber in each other's arms until dawn broke.

~o~

Last night had them both woken and feeling like jelly when his alarm rung them - and just as they had dressed back up, though she was still in her nightshirt, they accidentally stumbled across Kabuto who turned beet red and burst out laughing when he realized what had happened, then turned the other way to get breakfast ready.

It was around afternoon when Sasuke did the honors of ordering them both fast food and bringing to the house. And to see him in a black t-shirt and jeans - man was he really casual sex on legs! Sakura couldn't stop giggling as she remembered last night...

"You know, out of everything I've seen you eat, I didn't think you'd like fast food," she said after taking a drink of Coke.

"Why wouldn't I?" he asked with a chuckle. _Never saw you ate it._ He shook his head when she told him that. And maybe last night was also making them have a hell of an appetite right now at this time of day. "You know, you're starting to know everything about me."

Yeah, both them telling about their lives, and how each of them dealt with loss in their own way. As for him, he was a miracle to get out of that black pit, because not a lot of people could. And nobody was ever alone when they had someone to help them. Sakura picked up her burger and took another bite.

To follow was none other than some relaxation - and naked - in his Jacuzzi which she remembered having a very unpleasant memory involving his mother's book, but now that it was brought up, she and Sasuke thought to get a little adventurous in here just like the main couple did early in the novel. Which resulted in nearly melted bones to the core and the verge of passing out.

By the time the day was over, she was back home. In time for her father to return home the next day, and she was heading to work for her shift, and to Ino. Though she wasn't ready to confide in her friend about losing her virginity to her boss just yet - _although with what happened, I don't think it's_ that _anymore. Boss and assistant never do what we just did._

"Was your weekend fine without me, kumquat?" Kizashi asked, kissing her forehead.

"It certainly was," she answered with a bright smile. His eyes twinkled, but did he catch on? "What about you?"

"The best I've had in a long time. I forgot what it was like to be a single guy again, Sakura." _Oh, if you met someone new, please don't scar me with the details._

Halfway through the shift, when she was at the computer, Ino slipped by and asked her how everything was between her and Sasuke. "The...best, since the weekend," she answered. "I got him to enjoy _Kwaidan_ during the day." Was a little lie going to hurt anyone? Ino would know all the details someday soon enough.

"I hope he did love it as much as you say," the blonde told her with a wink, "so why don't _we_ make the most of it and do something fun?" Sakura agreed; she was so happy right now that she agreed in a heartbeat. "Plus, Kiba has been asking about you if you're still open..."

 _Oh, damn it, Kiba. How could I have forgotten about him?_ She must have said his name aloud, because Ino asked her what the problem was. "I was kind of...rude to him the last time I saw him," she confessed. Except rude was an understatement.

"He told me about that. But I wouldn't worry about what he said. He just...wants to see you."

Sakura exhaled sharply. Now that the border was crossed with Sasuke, she wasn't looking forward to Kiba time, but she had no choice but to just humor him. And from the looks of it, she might have led him on, although because she knew what he did to Sasuke when they were in high school, she needed to get him straight sooner or later.

The next day, they had lunch at the local diner, and he paid for it. She just let him and thanked him when it was done. "Sakura," he said, his tone foreshadowing, "I rented some movies if you wanted to watch them with me sometime before you go off and vanish with Mr. Riches again."

She sighed. "Why do you insist on making fun of him like this?"

"Everyone knows he's a difficult guy. That's why they called him 'The Beast'." _Because those people don't know him like I do - yourself included. You know nothing besides making his life worse than it was._ But if she said that, she ended up springing the trap.

"Well, thanks for lunch." But before she could go, he stopped her with what she never thought she'd hear.

"Look," Kiba said, looking at her with puppy dog eyes, "I'm sorry for being out of line. I just want you to know how great you are, and I want you to have everything you deserve." She jumped a little and held her breath when he boldly took her hand and held it in his. The feeling was so uncomfortable, even when he told her she was special.

She was in such a mess when she found herself back in Sasuke's office not long later. She couldn't stop thinking about what Kiba told her. He called her special, but Sasuke didn't - but what the hell did it matter? Sasuke said so much more than that; he even took notice of her compassion, he gave her so many chances even when he was difficult in the beginning. He even trusted her with his darkest secrets as she did him.

She NEVER told Kiba any of this, and he never did either. But he was also the guy who made Sasuke cut his own wrists...and with the same razor blade that was now on display right before her eyes. And on the shelf beneath it was a photograph of him as a young boy with his entire family. The happier times, and even Itachi gave no sign of snapping and becoming a psychopath...

That fact continued to bother her. He'd been a thirteen-year-old child, so why would a _kid_ grab a knife one night and slaughter his own parents before his baby brother came home?

 _We've been on a good road, and yet here I am still wondering all this. It's not healthy for me or him. We live in the present now, not the past. And the future is too depressing to think about._

~o~

Sasuke had been gone for the day and was just coming home, passing through the kitchen. "How was your trip?" Kabuto asked him brightly. The Uchiha smiled back before leaving to take his bag to his room so he could unpack himself.

When he was done, a well-deserved shower came in mind. He never realized how...strenuous life had really been. Perhaps it was because he had been looking forward to coming back home just because of Sakura...

"Sakura did check in while you were gone," Kabuto told him with a knowing twinkle. "I told you she was a good one." _Yes, she is._ "And if I may be so bold, when you going to let her off the hook...?"

He knew what that meant; she'd done more than enough time, and it was true: why could he keep her like this forever? But then again, at Kabuto's suggestion, he could give her the choice to stay if she wanted to. But would she _take_ it?

When he was relaxed and in his office, he decided to call her, and she was at home, surprisingly. _"How was your trip?"_ she asked, seemingly in bright spirits because it was clear she MISSED him. Knowing that made him feel...bubbly inside. Like a giddy schoolboy whose prospective date to prom answered yes to him.

"I'll tell you about it, but if you have time...would you come over?" He just missed her so much he had to see her, even if it was an odd time. She sounded taken off-guard, but she answered that she would be there. "I don't really have anything for you to do, but I wanted to talk to you about something." Kabuto was right about giving her the option, and today seemed as good as any day. He felt so excited his stomach acids bubbled.

Under half an hour later, he heard the front door downstairs open, and he rushed out of his office to see her -

\- only to be greeted with the harshest, reddening _SMACK_ to the cheek he'd ever received. He stumbled back, clutching that spot and looking at her, blinking away the white spots that danced before his eyes. Her face was deathly calm, but her eyes blazed green fire. "How...could you?" She tried to shout, but resulted in broken sobs she fought to hold back.

Sasuke was still rubbing his burning skin when his mind went on a whirlwind. What...what was going on? What had he done? "After all this time, and I thought you were different!" she finally screamed at him. "And after I gave myself to you, you did this to us! I thought everything everyone said about you wasn't true! I even DEFENDED you!"

"Sakura!" he finally burst out. He ducked another blow that she aimed for his face.

" _Don't. You. DARE."_ That look she gave him now was pure spite. Hateful. Disgust. "Sasuke Uchiha, you really are a _beast_."

 _Beast._

She called him that name, and while it hurt so much, he still couldn't figure out what he had done. But she wasn't giving him a chance to speak. "Sakura, wait!" he shouted when she turned to leave him, and his legs were too weak to chase after her.

Kabuto didn't show up, but he must have heard everything. Sasuke appreciated his friend not appearing after this, because right now, he found himself on his knees in the same spot, staring out after the place where Sakura Haruno, his assistant - and the woman he realized he was in love with - had ran out on him.

 **The lemon wasn't that graphic (not by PWP standards), but that's not important. What matters is the emotional aspect.**

 **But OMG, there are no words to describe the emotional impact just now. :'( What's Sasuke going to do now since he realizes he loved Sakura...and what could it have been that had her leave him?**

 **Reviews appreciated, and lots of tissues if the revelation of their backstories before didn't make you bawl enough...**


	10. None But the Lonely Heart

**I would have had this out before, but yesterday I had a headache that I rarely have, and then as evening fell, I got nauseated that I had to cease writing the last of this until I was well again. For a moment, Grandma and I thought it was the flu, but it turned out to just be a case of food poisoning. I'd made catfish in the oven, and the baked potato with it wasn't cooked all the way as I wanted it, so before I went to bed, I ended up throwing it up as confirmation. Sorry to give those details. : & **

**Named after one of my favorite Tales From the Crypt episodes.**

Chapter Ten

None But the Lonely Heart

So, she finally told Kiba a couple days later that she wasn't interested in him the way he was interested in her. She half-expected him to fly into a childish tantrum, but his response was cool. She wanted to keep a friendship, however, but she wasn't sure if she meant that as much because of...

"Sakura, come on. I know you got a lot going on, but I'm willing to wait. I know this is right." Even now, still trying. This was her last chance.

"This isn't about my schedule -"

And just like that, he cut her off before she could say anything. "Then until the time comes, I'll wait." He left without another word.

Not long after, Sasuke called her and told her he wanted nothing for her to do, but to talk about something. Although before she could leave the house, her dad came home in a mood that dampened the spirits. "Dad, what happened?" she cried, going to his side when he collapsed in the love chair.

"That horrible, horrible man, Sakura. They...fired me."

Something inside her sank and then exploded like an underwater volcano. "...what? _Why_?!" she demanded. What had her father done now that they let him go...?

Kizashi looked her square when he answered. "They got a call," he said, and when she was told the name, she snapped and was out the door in a flash.

 _Sasuke Uchiha._

She drove in a rage, but made sure she didn't kill anyone or herself on the way. She was livid and heartbroken. He...Sasuke...he betrayed her. Was it all an act, what she thought they had? Was he just toying with her all this time? He played with her, tested her, pretended they had a relationship in the making...only to call her father's workplace and have him fired?

Had he _planned_ all this time?!

When she arrived, Kabuto called to her, but she ignored him and ran to find the man responsible for her father's disgrace. He was going to pay, powerful man or not. And to strike him like she did the time he threw the book into the hot tub made her feel better, but she couldn't hold back her tears as she threw everything she could at him. How could she have allowed herself to give in to him the way she did?!

When she finally called him the "Beast", the agony was there in his eyes. _Good, I got him. He deserves it._ When she turned to stalk out, she didn't want to hear whatever he had to say.

Her father heard her come home, but she didn't want to talk to him. She wanted to be alone. He said nothing, just continued to watch the television in the living room. He was suffering as much as she was.

All those times they talked about their families, his revelation of what everyone said about him, giving his side...he manipulated her feelings. He knew nothing about love, or even the human heart. He humiliated her. _There's no such thing as true love. I trusted my heart with him, and look where it got me._

In the privacy of her room, she cried harder than she did when Mebuki died. She was never going back to him again.

~o~

Every day after that for a week, he tried calling her, to receive no answer. He had never felt so melancholy, which might as well be an understatement.

Life wasn't the same without Sakura.

What had happened was a question he would never stop asking himself. Kabuto even had no answers that could help. He was probably just as sad when she left; he even tried to talk to her when she was leaving, but she was too broken to speak to him. "Whatever it was," Kabuto said gravely, "it's torn her up."

"But why won't she tell me what I did?" Sasuke had to say one day, downing himself in chamomile, but it did nothing to soothe him. He refused anything like honey and lemon because it reminded him too much of her. In fact, every room he went in now, it made him think about her - including his own bedroom, for obvious reasons.

The basketball court didn't help either. Missing the hoop reminded him of the one thing - or should he say _person?_ \- that was gone now. And in the gym meant he wished he could pull a muscle, as his way of causing himself pain.

 _She had moved on with her life,_ was all he could tell himself. By the end of the week, he all but gave up phoning her, and when he did try once at the house, she heard his voice and just hung up without a word. Now he made his decision to drive up to the house - and the one who answered was none other than Kizashi Haruno, the man who was responsible for this change in his life. And the look he gave Sasuke was no different than his daughter.

"Sasuke Uchiha, you have a lot of nerve, you know that? Maybe you think you can get away with anything, but you won't hurt me or my daughter anymore. Go away. I'm busy looking for a job."

The door slammed into his face without another word. That was all it took for Sasuke to turn away, and for the first time since the night his brother took everything away from him, he burst into tears as soon as he was inside his car. He bowed his head forward and sobbed for a long time.

But that wasn't all. Before closing the door, that was when he remembered the last thing Haruno said besides the harm to his family: _"Go away. I'm busy looking for a job."_

 _Wait._

Now his brain was beginning to turn in the wheels. With that, Sasuke burst the engine to life and raced back - without causing an accident - to the estate to get on the phone with the repair company. "...yes, this is Sasuke Uchiha," he said when they answered.

 _"Uchiha-san, this is a surprise. What can we do for you? Do you need another repair?"_

"No, everything is fine here. But I was wondering: is there a Haruno-san still working for you?"

A pause before the answer. _"No, sir. Kizashi Haruno was fired because you requested it last week, remember?"_

Sasuke held his breath for a second. So...his suspicions were right. Someone called them after all to have him fired, but someone _impersonated him._ They pretended to be Sasuke just to - "No, that wasn't me who called to have him fired. Whoever it was, they masqueraded as me, and I'm going to get to the bottom of it," he swore. "This has all been a grave misunderstanding..."

~o~

Ino knew she wasn't fine even though she said she was, and the pinkette agreed with her. "What that Uchiha did to you was terrible," her friend said. _Terrible? Such as trusting him and going far to let him have my virginity after only a month of "knowing" him?_ After that, she busied herself with work and homework as usual, even had her days off so she could be at home more, and finally spend time with Ino - and yes, Kiba - like she should have for a long time.

But why did she feel so empty and hated it so much?

"Dad, why are you in such a good mood?" A week had gone by since he was fired - _because of that bastard_ \- but now she came home to find him smiling.

"I got my job back, kumquat," Kizashi answered, voice almost high-pitched with joy. She felt her eyes pop out of their sockets and almost dropped her book bag.

"R-Really? How did that happen?" she exclaimed. But in her mind, she already knew: _Uchiha._ He was no longer just Sasuke in her mind.

Her dad shrugged. "Guess the guilt got to him," he answered simply, tilting his head back and sighing. "But how about celebrating?" By celebrating, he meant opening up that old bottle of wine that neither had since Mebuki passed away. It had been in her side of the family for the longest time. She decided it was a good time after all.

Later that night she felt like the television, which Kizashi noted was what she loved to do when she wasn't doing homework, laundry or being at the center. "Just taking a break from catching up on everything," she told him. _And hoping to distract myself from HIM._

But then he surprised her when he said he was almost glad he was fired, which shocked her. "Because you don't have to put up with all the Uchiha hassle anymore."

"...that was more his doing than mine." _But I was happy to do it._

"But you gave up a lot. Just like you did when your mother died."

Sakura sat up straighter at the mention. "But that wasn't a big deal, Dad," she insisted, but he wasn't done.

"And while I've always been proud of you, I want you to start looking out for _yourself._ I know you made the choice to come home after she died, but you've more than earned the right to a little happiness. Just go out and find it for YOU."

He was purposefully telling her that he wanted her to stop thinking about him and to focus on herself. He was not giving her permission; he was insisting. Sakura needed more time to think about this, but at the same time, she wasn't sure, because she tried doing that for herself, and he almost ruined them.

However, the next day at work, she got one more call from the Beast himself - and enough was enough. "Stop...calling," she ground out, but then against her will, she let him speak just because the guilt had gotten to him that he had chosen to let her dad back into his job.

 _"Sakura, if you would just let me explain -"_

She didn't want to hear. "Thank you for getting my dad's job back, but I've had enough of you."

 _"It was all a mistake!"_

"Yes, it was!" she snapped. "You never should have held my dad's job over his head in the first place." She hung up then and there. Spoiled rich boy who lost his parents, his brother's fault, Kiba's bullying - but later in life, it was all his fault when it came to her father and her.

~o~

The mobile slipped out of his hand as soon as she hung up on him. That was when Sasuke Uchiha decided that his life was all over once more...but this time, the one who helped him would no longer be in it.

 _"You never should have held my dad's job over his head in the first place."_

 _You're right. I never should have...but it brought me to you._

And now she was gone. Him getting her father's job back wasn't enough; why should he have expected it to? His own life came crashing back down, and what else was there to pull him back to sanity? His brother took everything from him before, and now whoever did so now had done the permanent damage.

The razor in the glass box shone in the sunlight radiating off it.

~o~

That morning, Sakura was done seeing a current patient, a sweet little girl of eight who had lost her father last year in a car crash, when Ino found the time to once more bring up Uchiha, but not before asking her if she was working later. "What do you mean?"

"You know who I mean."

 _Of course._ "No," she said simply.

Ino furrowed her brows as she set about opening the jar of surface wipes for the desk counter. "Sorry for asking. But have you talked to him again?" Sakura nodded, and related how it just involved her telling him off on using her dad's job over their heads, and how stupid she had been to think they could have been so much more. And then it ended with him saying it was all a mistake, and that was it.

"Yes, I did," Sakura said, her answers becoming short now. The less there was spoken about Sasuke Uchiha, the better, but her friend, as always, wasn't letting it go.

"You're still ticked at him," Ino stated as she scrubbed the surface on her side until it was sparkling and shining. But for the pinkette, the marble surface now reminded her too much of the kitchen and banisters of Uchiha Estate. She scoffed.

"Wouldn't _you_ be?" she returned. He went back on their deal just because a sliver of conscience got to him. That did NOT mean she had to do anything for him in return.

Ino just laughed and apologized. "Yes, I would, but he tried to make it up to you, didn't he? And let me tell you something, since I gave you all this time to sort it out. Maybe you should think, for a second, that maybe he could have been a wretched man once, but after doing all of THAT with you...would he really snap in a day or two when he started trusting you himself?"

Sakura had no time to answer before her friend and coworker was gone, stunned to her core. And not long after, Kiba came in and offered his sympathies, saying he heard what happened from Ino about her dad losing his job, and if she wanted someone to take her mind off things, he was here.

Sakura would manage, but on the other hand, she was considering.

~o~

Kabuto watched how his master and best friend was suffering since Sakura left them. During the time that passed, he thought about getting a hold of her himself, but by the looks of it, Sasuke really tried doing everything by himself; it didn't surprise him that the raven didn't get another assistant, because no one could EVER replace Sakura Haruno.

 _So, what do you know? He is in love with her, just like I always knew. But now..._

In short, what Sasuke did was his business. Although, when he tried calling her, he'd get no answers, and one time he went to the house only for her father to slam it in his face - and that was when Kabuto heard Sasuke on the phone with Kizashi Haruno's workplace, mentioning that he never called to have him fired, which was all the silver-haired man needed. _Someone did this, but it wasn't Sasuke. And he tried to tell Sakura, but she wants nothing to do with him._ He cringed.

To watch Sasuke with all those reports that the pink-haired woman used to do for him was wrenching to his core - and once he saw his master collapse at the bottom of the stairs, staying there to wallow in his tears, which he hadn't done since he was a child. To even look at anything that reminded him of Sakura - the novel that once belonged to Mikoto and turned out to be the pinkette's favorite - and to be in any room where they had their moments...and the only place Kabuto ever saw him go was his mother's gardens, still slumbering until spring in the next month.

This was when Kabuto decided enough was enough. He let Sasuke handle it himself this far; he wasn't going to just let him go back to the way he was. When the Uchiha was outside, he reached for his mobile and tried the number that had been given to him a few years ago when the person returned to let him know he was still alive and well - and very much concerned for Sasuke, as always, and from the shadows.

 _"...Kabuto, is this you?"_

 _The one I needed - the one who knows exactly what to do._ "It certainly is. Long time no hear," Kabuto answered with a sneaky smile.

~o~

She was at the grocery store when she picked up some things for herself and her dad, with the intention of making a whole chicken in the oven along with herbal potatoes and grilled asparagus, at the end of this very same day. She was bringing them all to put into the trunk of her car when a shadow stood before her. Sakura halted, reaching into her pocket for the alarm that was one of the latest devices in self-defense - but the voice made her freeze.

"You don't really need that. I'm not here to fight you, but I wish to have a word with you...Haruno-san."

She spun around and glared at the speaker. He was in a maroon sweatshirt, the hood pulled over his head, and his pants were navy blue, with dark boots ending at the knees. But his face was seen for her eyes...a face she never thought she would see with her own two eyes. Onyx eyes, an aristocratic nose, the slanted tear troughs which appeared much deeper now. And the resemblance to the one who ruined her life...but _he_ ruined his own brother's life, too.

"Itachi...Uchiha," she spat, closing her fist around her little weapon. "What do you want with me? I've dealt enough with your brother, so is it your turn now - especially after what _you_ did to him? It takes some guts to show your face back here." His expression didn't change at all, but his voice - it was deeper than Sasuke's, almost velvety. But no way in hell would the other Uchiha, a wanted murderer, sway her.

"So I have heard, especially the troubles regarding my younger brother," he answered calmly. Both his hands were in his pockets, and who knew what was hiding in there. _A knife, or a gun, maybe_. And then he withdrew one of them, setting off the alarm bell, but she had no pepper spray or a pistol in return. "But now is not the time to speak about Sasuke. What I have to say to you is for your ears alone." Sakura continued to scowl at him as she kept one hand in her jacket pocket, safely around her alarm device, but before she could push the button, he flourished a piece of yellow sticky paper before her eyes.

It was an address and room number. He wanted to speak to her in private, not here. It was about Sasuke, but she'd made it loud and clear that she wanted nothing to do with him again, and this made Itachi frown.

"I'm afraid I do not take no for an answer, Haruno-san. You thought my brother broke your heart and destroyed your father, but that is far from the truth. Just as you know there is more about me than what you have heard."

 **I knew I would bring Itachi back, but towards the end, and the reason the end of this story took a little longer was because I needed a good excuse to allow him to return, for an important reason: Sasuke. Let's see what he has to say to Sakura...**


	11. When the Truth Comes Out

**Ugh I am relieved this chapter is done. Though with struggling how to bring Itachi back and the revelation of why Fugaku and Mikoto were killed was involved in how hard it was. Don't criticize me just because I tried and got the final result.**

Chapter Eleven

When the Truth Comes Out

Who did this man think he was? He came to stand in front of her, in a public parking lot while it was still daylight, and he claimed she knew nothing about his brother?! And what was more, he had to put the paper in her face, but her fingers were grabbing at it in spite of herself.

 _Whatever it is, he doesn't want to say it here at this time, and he said it was for me only. I really don't like this._ "When do you want to speak to me?" she asked, looking back up at him, removing her hand from her pocket which made his eye twinkle.

"Well, whenever your next break from work will be. I'm aware you are a part-time assistant at the orthodontist's." His casual mention of her workplace made her a little angrier than before. What was he, still spying after all these years, relentlessly evading the authorities the way he did? If he had gotten into ANBU at only thirteen, that made him a _very dangerous genius._ Which meant her guard had to be up more than ever. And that meant confiding in her friend when she was home.

"Why do you make it your business to pry into other people's lives behind their backs?" Sakura demanded.

Itachi chuckled and shrugged. "You forget, I entered the special task forces when I just turned into a teenager. I made it my business even to know who my...foolish little brother had as an assistant and got involved with before he lost her." He raised an eyebrow. "Or should I say, you yourself are the bigger fool than Sasuke is at the present?"

"Now, look -" He held up his hand to silence her.

"You never answered my question, so I'll tell you. Tomorrow at noon, if that will not be a problem?"

That was the time she finished her classes, and then two hours of free time before work. _He's damned good._ "...fine. And if I so much as find out you tricked me for my life," she warned, "I'll see you get yours by alerting the authorities."

"Believe me, that won't end well for you. I guarantee you would be in just as much trouble for not notifying them ahead of time that one of the most wanted national criminals is back in their midst." With that, he turned his back to her and started walking away. "Noon, don't forget."

 _Like hell I would forget._ Sakura stared after his retreating form, which slid into a nice-looking dark convertible, which made her think he'd done some undercover spy work since leaving Konoha, was she right? She let her eyes travel down to the address in her hands, which was none other than the local inn. The wind picking up reminded her she needed to get home, or her father would wonder what took her so long. Stuffing the paper into her jeans pocket, Sakura closed the trunk and hurried around to get into the driver's seat.

What made her feel so nauseous that evening after dinner was that she couldn't tell her father about her encounter with Itachi Uchiha.

As soon as she was safely away in her room, and in a hushed tone, she quickly phoned Ino and told her everything. When she was done speaking, Ino's harsh breathing could be heard, but she kept her voice down in case her parents overheard. _"...you were visited by Itachi Uchiha."_

"Yes! And tomorrow, he wants to see me at the inn. But I don't feel right going by myself. You got time to go with me?"

There was a pause before the answer was yes, and then, _"You might as well get some answers if he either killed and just covered his tracks - or he was just framed. But he also knows about his brother if he's watched over him all these years, right? I wouldn't be surprised."_

Sakura snorted. "And I thought I had enough trouble with the Uchiha to last a lifetime," she said disgustedly.

 _"Maybe, but you want your answers, do you? He couldn't come back like this without a reason. My dad always said that a criminal never returns without a purpose. Who knows how it ends,"_ Ino said, and then there was the sound of running water, meaning she was about to get in the shower. Now she realized she could use it herself.

But that also meant that as soon as she would fall asleep, she would think back to that one night and day time with Sasuke Uchiha - in his bed and then the Jacuzzi. First time hurt a little before the second got more exciting...and then it was over by fate's cruel hand.

She sometimes took sleeping pills to help herself fall asleep so she wouldn't have to dream, just like when she came home after her mother passed. It helped, but it was also a temporary treatment.

~o~

He had been in Suna, surveying some desert bandits' activity when he received the call from Kabuto. Over the years he would change his number when things would get heated and the authorities would find themselves close to finding out he was behind certain activities as well as the organization he found refuge with when he left his hometown, assuming a new identity in the investigations he was given.

The Akatsuki was an international spy system specializing in protecting from the shadows. The business comprised simply nine of them, some disgraced for the right reasons and others for the wrong ones; the guilty were chosen because of their capabilities, and as long as they were properly supervised, Akatsuki was functioning as a whole.

Itachi Uchiha found himself based on being framed for the murder of his parents. What he had to tell Haruno-san would be the whole of what he heard was spoken around town to this very day.

He NEVER wished this kind of fate on his younger brother, when Sasuke was still only a child. It should never have happened. If anything, he never wanted him to grow up hateful and spiteful of everyone around him as he had for his brother. He hated how the Inuzuka boy drove his precious brother to nearly kill himself; he even had the proof. It was well-known, in fact, yet Inuzuka got nothing more than a simple slap on the wrist while Sasuke wound up in the institution for a year of his young life, then was expelled only to be homeschooled to get his college degree. Kabuto and his parents were the only ones to look after his brother. For that, the elder Uchiha brother was grateful, but knowing the younger had to suffer alone internally...

Sasuke had done well for himself, but in the eyes of the Uchiha Agency Board, he was seen no better than his "disgrace of a brother" - but Sasuke still had no idea what their father had done to the company that had taken years to fix until he was old enough to assume the chief seat.

It was because of that which his ANBU director ordered the mission because he personally saw Fugaku Uchiha a threat to him, and the entire town he claimed to cherish so much. And even for his young age, Itachi knew the man was bad news, but he stayed enlisted because he was fighting to have a different path than the one his father had laid out for him...and he not only got more than he bargained for, but it cost the lives of his loved ones.

What had he been thinking, getting himself in deep at a young age? He was a worse failure than his brother was seen as.

He thought that he would give Sasuke the future he deserved if he enlisted and gave him the chance to shine, since he showed interest in the family business at a young age - probably more than his big brother could remember, after the war when he was only a child.

And Sasuke did prove to do very well, but the worst in the department was when he lacked social skills and treated those around him like they were beneath him. The aid of Kabuto had done very little, because what Itachi had done to him was more than enough. The doctors could never completely cure his broken heart and soul.

But the one who had done the ultimate job was Sakura Haruno, who had gone to work for him because of her father who accidentally broke a piece of art that had been their grandfather's - but that vase was nothing but worthless as far as Itachi had been concerned. And by the looks of it as time went on, she got him to soften up and learn to trust people, as well as to deal with them the way she would. As Itachi observed, Sakura Haruno had one of the kindest hearts he'd seen.

If you wondered how he knew all of this, his methods were best left to the imagination. A good spy and secret protector never revealed his tactics lest they fell into the wrong hands.

However, he had to pause and lay low for awhile because he had an assignment involving a shortage of oil in the desert which was caused by bandits, and Akatsuki was hired to eliminate because they were really terrorists. Therefore, Itachi had not heard the latest on Sasuke and his assistant until he received the phone call when the job was done.

What he heard made him come back in a flash.

He found himself setting foot back on Konoha soil, sweatshirt over his head as it was early February, and the weather still cold and with snow covering the ground. Much of it too frozen and might keep until spring came. Nobody looked at him twice, but if they thought to look at his face, they would see his long black hair held in a tight bun behind his head rather than his signature ponytail, and his dark eyes were covered with green contacts. He had excellent cosmetic strips to blend in with his skin to hide the tear troughs beneath his eyes. Nobody would recognize him...unless he removed the strips and contacts as well as let his hair down to his preference.

Kabuto told him everything: Sakura lashing out at Sasuke over the belief he'd called her father's job to have him fired, only to learn someone framed him by doing the terrible deed. _Someone dared to ruin my brother's life in my absence once more. I'm going to find out who it is._

Knowing the company, they kept recordings for quality assurance. And with the voice identification he possessed, he might get Sakura-san to listen in on the conversation to see if she recognized the voice. Either way, she had to listen once and for all that it hadn't been his brother who did this to her family.

He found himself at the inn checking in, and it was the evening he intended to find Sakura Haruno. He gave the receptionist his "name": Arashi Namikaze. The surname was once the former mayor's who died at the end of the last war, but it was also common. His widow and child had left soon after.

In the privacy of his temporary room, under his second alias in fourteen years, Itachi Uchiha dropped his guise in which olive green contacts were removed to show depthless black onyx. The pale, diagonal skin strips were removed to show the deep lines beneath his eyes. And finally, he undid the knot in his hair to let it fall free down his back, which was soon tied beneath his neck the way he preferred.

 _Now to find Sakura._

When he stood before her face-to-face, he admitted she was a sight to look at. He never saw a girl with pink hair and green eyes, but she might as well be a faerie, if you asked him. She was...unique. And a hard worker, befitting for his brother. But one fact troubled him: their mother had been their father's assistant before she quit her job to be a housewife. Only this one had a life of her own and chose to leave because of a horrid misunderstanding, so it was highly unlikely she would give her life up for someone else.

She didn't trust him as soon as he confronted her in the parking lot of the grocery store, when the evening was starting to fall. But it seemed she might be willing to go on a little faith, since he meant it when he said she was a bigger fool than his brother. Stating the word took him back to that night he called Sasuke worthless, which tore him up as it did when it left his mouth.

 _But it was for the best. If he hated me and thought I did it, so he is protected and knew nothing about our father's activities._

He slept in the twin-sized bed that night, in the small room for himself that he rented, and on top of the bedside table was the photograph he carried after all these years: the picture of himself and Sasuke, taken shortly before their parents died. Looking upon the good old times helped him sleep at night.

In the morning, he had himself his coffee and his breakfast - rice, eggs and pieces of fish - that he picked up and brought back to the room, just before she was due to meet him at their agreed time. Itachi also had himself craving for some dumplings afterwards; his sweet tooth was legendary today amongst his fellow Akatsuki as it was ages ago. And just as he was picking up the first stick, the door was knocked on. He glanced down at his watch and saw it just struck noon.

Itachi stood up from the bed, enjoying his dessert in the afternoon, and went to peep through the hole, seeing her standing there. Green safari jacket over a pink sweater, and her jeans embroidered softly with flowers of her name - he'd have thought that she was ready to fight him personally. He opened the door and smiled at the sight of her, then looked over her shoulder to see the blond with the high ponytail and bright blue eyes, and a gray denim set over a purple turtleneck. He knew her - Ino Yamanaka. "I'm not surprised you brought additional company," he told her. "But rest assured, you are safe, Sakura-san."

She didn't appear as aggressive like yesterday, and her friend was just as wary. "I'm willing to believe that, but excuse me for not completely trusting you. I told my father where I would be." He chuckled; that was a lie, and he knew it. She thought she could do that, did she?

"Well, if it eases your conscience, Yamanaka-san can sit with us, if she is interested." What was one person to be a problem?

"Yeah, I gladly will," the blonde answered. "I'd like to know if my suspicions are on the market."

Itachi looked at her warily, closing the door behind them and visibly locking it. "Just a precaution in case someone follows me," he explained. "Part of my field of work over the last fourteen years. I have been out of the lands conducting shadowy investigations that ensure the innocent are protected." This visibly surprised them, and Sakura was the one to speak up.

"That's hilarious coming from a guy who murdered his own parents," she spat, sitting down in the single chair that was before the small flatscreen, and Ino perched herself on the left armrest. "And your brother is just as worse when he -"

"That is why you are here - the both of you." He gave Ino an inquisitive look as he picked up the package of dango and offered them, which they both waved off under the assumption he must have put something on it before they came, and to prove it wasn't poisoned, Itachi grabbed a random one and put the first ball to his mouth. The girls looked at him with pointed looks before relenting. He then sat down on the side of the bed facing them, placing the pink box on the table, which still had the old photograph - and got Sakura's attention.

"Sentimental enough?"

"More than you know," he replied. "Now, before we begin, I don't have physical evidence because it is impossible to obtain now, so the truth is going to stay good and hidden well because it needs to be."

Sakura looked at him with a raised eyebrow, not touching the sweet stick yet. "On what grounds should we believe you then?"

He sighed; she really was not making this easy, but then again, he wasn't surprised. "How much has Sasuke told you about me?" he asked.

"That you were perhaps the youngest to join the Black Ops in history, and when you entered, he almost never saw you again. But he never knew why you did it, because your father never said anything. And then one night, it happened." He nodded; she only scratched the surface as his brother. It was for the best regarding Sasuke, but now she would know the rest.

"It was for the best Sasuke never knew why, but it was for his own good. I never wanted the seat that he has now, but I never wanted him to live that way because of these circumstances. I didn't discover what our father was up to until my superior gave me the order and the concrete proof. Our father, Fugaku, had embezzled for a bargain."

There was a pause, followed by what seemed to be a _ting_ as if a dew drop hit a pond. "C-come again?" Sakura uttered.

"Fugaku Uchiha took money out of his business," Ino stated, "that he had to be killed for it?"

He nodded. "It wasn't something that he wanted to; he had no other options. It was a deal that resulted in malicious means. The Uchiha Agency was among many which this town depended on, as you know, but not everyone thought fondly of it. Our father may have been a strict man, but he loved his family and looked out for everyone's best interests. There was one true enemy he ever had. In fact, this is little known to the ordinary townsfolk. Father was in the services along with this one I speak of, as was the one who sealed all of our fates. Back in the last war, and I remember being four years old." He closed his eyes then, remembering when Fugaku left him and Mikoto at home, when she was not yet pregnant with Sasuke, and then one day the chaos got worse when homes began to be burnt down...and theirs was one of the targets by soldiers from Iwa. It was nation versus nation, killing with no reason other than by affiliation. And sometimes young children could be put in the army due to shortage. Telling this made the women before him cringe visibly with discomfort and dismay.

"I killed a man the first time," he told them, which made them both squirm in their seats. He had to admit that it was a little amusing to see the pink-haired girl flinch. _As you should. I'm nothing like my brother; I've stained my hands with so much more blood than Sasuke ever did._ "When my father came to rescue me, he saw it all. I was never the same since then - but then my brother was born, and my life changed for the better...to a degree."

Neither of them said a word thus far, but the questions were in their eyes. He could read their emotions and body mannerisms as he could read a book.

"...you didn't want to kill your parents," Sakura finally breathed out, her eyes glazing with tears she was fighting back. Ino was doing the same, before she croaked and swallowed the second ball off the stick.

"And you really loved your little brother, didn't you?"

Itachi nodded to them both. "Yes to both, and as I said, his light filled my darkness. He became my reason to protect, but heaven could not be without hell. The Uchiha is one of the oldest families around today, but my brother and I are the last. And as the firstborn, I was next to take our father's place in the family business, but it wasn't meant for me. I knew it even before I was old enough. But my younger brother had what I never could: a happy, normal life, with dreams of the future, and I was his idol. Honored as I was to know that..." Itachi lowered his eyes to the floor as he would never forget those wide, doting dark eyes looking up at him and always happy to see him when he came home from the academy. "...the truth was I was far from being the perfect brother he saw me as. To top it, he wanted to be acknowledged by our father, and he tried many times to be praised by him. It was effortless to minimal. As the older brother, my responsibility was to protect him, so I took another path from what our father wanted, and it was in the ANBU Black Ops, and Father voiced his protests but relented in the end...but the reality is I failed as a son and a brother."

Sakura by this time had finished her stick. "But what does that have to do with your father?" she asked. "Who was the person who did this to your family?"

"...his name was Danzo Shimura. As I told you, they were rivals - and somewhat comrades, but it was very difficult to tell. The man had a track record long before my father joined the ranks. Danzo had a fear of dying too soon, but his desire to prove himself was great that he was often surpassed by many before he could collect himself. This characteristic of his, this paranoia, would be a factor he carried for the rest of his life." And all of this information he learned after his disgrace, with the best resources he could grasp. "Therefore, the coward he was, he would resort to dirty means to get what he wanted, no matter what it took or how it looked. And this was when his Root foundation came to be - the section that I became a part of. I was still only thirteen despite seeing so much at a much younger age, and that was why I didn't see what he would do to my father until it was too late. He had a personal grudge and fear against the Uchiha because of the kind of man that my grandfather, Madara Uchiha, was." He sighed sharply.

"Which brings me to my father. Danzo, for years, wanted to get rid of us because he was one of those haunted by the ghosts of the past. Quote, 'Fugaku Uchiha is therefore as shrewd as his father was'; it was also said long ago that the Uchiha wanted to plan a coup, long before me and Sasuke were born, to take over the town, but our parents had nothing to do with it."

"But that Danzo didn't care," Ino spat. "He's nothing but a bitter, frantic old man clinging to his delusions of the past, just like you said."

Itachi nodded again, reaching over to pick up the picture and hold it in his hands. "He had the best means to break into the company system personally and strike the CEO himself - Father - without linking back to him, because either way, our family was done for. Not the business as the town relied on it, just us. In fact, it was during the recession that we were falling on a hard time, and that was when Danzo saw this as the weak spot. The amount he wanted he didn't really need, but it was the killing point. When Father took the bait, Danzo sprung his trap and sent in someone to eliminate both him and his wife, but to leave their youngest son unharmed."

There was a dreadful following silence. Both Sakura and Ino couldn't find it in themselves to speak, but they were wondering the same thing: _why was Sasuke spared?_

"Sasuke was just a child," he said, tempted to bite his bottom lip. "When I learned my orders were to personally eliminate my own parents because of this man, I was torn between allowing myself be charged with treason and to be tried for murder...and in the end, I chose not to kill my family, but I was forced to stand by and watch as another ANBU member did the deed for me. I was perhaps a bigger coward than Danzo was, and I ignored my heart saying I did the right thing, that he was to blame. For years to come, I tried convincing myself that, but it changed nothing."

Now their tears were coming down their cheeks as they absorbed all of this. They couldn't speak for moments, and he couldn't either. "You refused the order," Sakura repeated, "and yet you were still there to let Sasuke see and believe you did it. All because of Danzo. Your parents were both killed because your father made a mistake. And you took the fall for it...I knew there was more all along, and yet Sasuke still knows nothing."

"Because it is for the best," Itachi answered, holding the picture close to himself as he kept his attention on her most of all. "You know everything that you were told, but as for my side, following the incident, Danzo exiled me and promised if I ever returned in his range of vision, he would have me eliminated on sight. But it was fate smiling when he succumbed to a heart attack after I left, and his foundation was dissolved." _Indeed, a cherished memory._

There had been no fingerprints or DNA at the scene, which had all been the work of the Black Ops' brilliance, and his own, but he still had the knife in hand, and it had to be taken with him and disposed of - _the very same weapon that cut Mother and Father's throats. And the real murderer gave it to me so my brother would think I did it. And what I said to him..._

"You still called him foolish and pathetic, and said he would never understand why you did it."

"Because it was for his own good. And when the word got out of their deaths, the company found out their boss had taken the money out, and it nearly ruined them. They never got it back because they were unable to trace it to Danzo; they never let it leak to the press or the authorities because of fear of scandal. It would have added further disgrace as I have done enough. It was for the best, and as I said, it took years to fix before Sasuke was old enough. I wish I had my say in it, but it seemed that fate had its mercy for us that way."

 _But as a consequence, Sasuke suffered for everything. Everything that was never his fault, and remaining ignorant brought more harm than good._ "Over the last many years, I found aid in a secret spy service called the Akatsuki, and there I continued to protect. Because a true protector does his missions from the shadows. Eventually, I managed to keep in touch with Kabuto, who cared for my brother in my stead, though twice I changed my name and numbers to the public as well as my appearance." And that was how he ended up finding out about the current circumstances, which the pinkette and her friend both got.

"...I'm sorry," Sakura finally whispered. "All this time, you were seen as a monster, but you did it in order to save Sasuke. If only you could go and see him..."

"No," he interrupted, even though he considered it many times before. "I've done enough to him. It's best that I remain hidden away - but I only came back because of you, Sakura." He then stretched his body across to open the drawer which had the recording he made a personal copy of from the repair company vocal records. "Now that you know everything, you should know the one who had your father removed wasn't my brother." With that, he pushed the button and played it from start to finish.

 _"Shuuzen Mend and Repair, how may I help you?"_

 _"Yes, this is Sasuke Uchiha. An employee of yours that I hired, Kizashi Haruno, has broken something of great value in my home, and therefore I would love to voice his incompetence and inability to pay for the damages. I request you let him go as a result."_

Itachi could never believe it himself when he heard these words. His brother really had changed so much, for the worst - but then for the better when the man's daughter courageously stood up and worked for him to pay for her father's debt, and over a worthless piece of art of all things. Little did either of them know it would be so much more, and that it would be a woman of all people to mend his brother's broken soul...only for it to be torn all over again because of the speaker whose voice was NOT Sasuke.

"I know that voice," Sakura hissed, her eyes glowing like fire.

Ino spoke through her teeth. "So do I. Oh, he's such a loser - the lowest of them all. He's so going to pay..."

 **If I didn't say Itachi's scene was hard enough, oh hell it was an understatement. Corrupt business and dirty means aren't always my specialty, and that was not the only problem. There's always the question of what to keep the same and what to change.**

 _ **Shuuzen**_ **means "mending; repair".**


	12. The Love of a Woman

**Reviews appreciated with this final chapter, and thank you so much for your support. :D (wipes eyes with tissue)**

Chapter Twelve

The Love of a Woman

Embezzlement, desperation, blackmail...now frame for murder. And to top it, Itachi was really a good man who had just seen and done so much, shouldering every burden to keep his younger brother safe. Kabuto knew and didn't tell her, and for good reasons. She hated to admit it, but she could see the frenzy and attacks that would come to light if this got out. _But I hate it so much. He never should have had to experience this and let his life be taken from him. He's just like his brother, but also different._

He was right: she had been such a fool. Why did she think that Sasuke would have done this to her and her father? Why didn't she TRUST him and ask him before her feelings got the better of her?

Now that she remembered, Ino had said that she never told him that her father lost his job, only the reason she'd worked for Sasuke in the first place. It had been blaringly obvious all along, and she'd kept her eyes closed long enough. "I didn't tell him that your dad got fired, because then he'd rub it in, and it would have been the last thing you needed," her best friend since childhood said, wiping the corner of her eyes and holding in her sucks of breath.

They were both in Itachi's car, making way for the Uchiha Estate, which she had not been to since she left. It was here that Ino told them both what happened exactly. "I only said that you worked for him to pay your dad's debt, that you had to do it because he was working at the estate when he broke something, didn't mean to, but the man of the house said he would have him fired if it wasn't paid for, and that was where you came in until it was settled. I simply thought your dad having his job still was all that mattered. And you won't believe what he said either. 'Extortion', was what came out of his mouth, and 'working for that beast!' God, Sakura, I am so sorry." Her hand came up to take the pinkette's, who forgave her vocally, but she wasn't sure she even heard herself speak.

 _You only told him because he wanted to know where I was. You were a victim as much as we were._ Oh, she planned to deal with Kiba later, but first things first: the man inside the rosy manor in winter surroundings, and it took her back the very first night she came to confront him. "Itachi, you're coming in," she told him when they were inside the gate after getting permission, "because that is your brother, and it is time you made peace."

He said nothing to that, but the slight smile unnerved her even more.

"SASUKE!"

His name tore from Sakura's throat as she ran up the stairs, not pausing to see if Itachi and Ino were keeping up, and dashed for the office. She could hardly imagine what he had been doing without her, all this time, and with little help of the man who got the estranged brother here.

"Sakura!" Kabuto exclaimed when he saw her, then gave a grateful smile at the sight of Itachi.

"Kabuto, where is Sasuke?" she demanded, out of breath by now. When the silver-haired man answered he hadn't seen his master since this morning, her fears became a reality...and enhanced by what they all found in the office. Its occupant wasn't present, but the worst rested on the mahogany floorboards.

The box that carried the razor from his teen years lay there, face up, but empty. Glass shards lay inside and scattered around. "Oh, no," she moaned, kneeling beside it. "He didn't..."

Her hands felt numb as she tried to pick it up only to drop it, but Ino caught it and turned it over, reading aloud the brief script by his hand: _Never again._ Itachi took it from her and just stared at it without a change in expression. "Hold on, I'm calling his cell phone," Kabuto said, and picked up the landline on the desk, but when he was finished dialing the number, that was when they heard the ringing - _inside this room._

Sasuke's mobile sat there on the desk, atop the familiar colored report folders. Which meant that he left it here because he didn't want to be reached. No one was there for him anymore; he was once more consumed. But no, she was here, and she was going to find him. The first place that came to mind, if he wasn't on the grounds, was the spot in the forest where he took her after that dinner. The same place where he and Itachi used to be as boys.

 _Sasuke Uchiha, if you are dead and alone out there, I'll never forgive you for doing this - but most of all, I'll never forgive myself._

~o~

This place was perfect for him to make his decision when he smashed the box and took the razor out - the spot where his big brother once honed his skills while he watched behind the trees, and then he took Sakura out here. Good memories, but painful ones. It was also isolated from the rest of the world, where no one would find him in time.

But at the same time, when he thought back on the long road and efforts it took to get his life back on track, Sasuke wavered, looking at the cold, unpleasant thing as he put it to his wrist where an important vein and artery were flowing with blood. The blue stuck out against his pale flesh more than the red. And they said people who commit suicide had second thoughts; he was having them now. Back then, when he was sixteen, he cut himself in a heartbeat without considering the consequences.

The face of Kabuto appeared in his mind. His only friend in childhood and who lived with him, took care of him and everything. And so did another, with short pink hair, fierce and soft green eyes, as well as a pleasant attitude which would turn on a dime into a blade of steel...just like this one which one of his hands held.

"Sasuke?"

For a moment, he wondered if his mind was playing with him by allowing her voice to be heard in his head - except it was right behind him. He whirled around fast, and there SHE stood. "Sakura," he said in monotone. He was torn between being happy that she finally decided to see him - _how did you figure I would be out here, and what made you change your mind?_ \- and just being the cold man he was.

"What are you doing out here?" Her attention was on the thing in his grasp. "You going to do it because of me this time?"

It seemed she might have made the choice for him here and now. She was in front of him, and there was no reason to cut his skin open and bleed on the pure white snow. No pain and freezing of the cleanly swiped edges. Sasuke stood up and threw the damnable piece of steel out into the open, where it would land in the small water pond that had melted at some point before he got here.

Sakura stared at it with a little disbelief. "What happened...to the reminder?"

"There's been enough time for it to hang over my head," he answered. "It's way overdue. And Sakura, I'm sorry about your dad." _Every day I thought about this - morning, noon and night._ "I _never_ should have threatened him or put you through this." If this was the last time he was going to see her, and if she still held onto it, then he would respect her and leave her alone.

"...you were right," she said finally, taking a few steps forward. "But it wasn't all bad." A smile appeared on her face. "I got to know you."

Sasuke couldn't believe what he just heard. "R-really?" He hadn't stuttered since he was a child, and it was never that bad. She...she forgave him, so did that mean she figured it out after all? And did she know who made the call? He wanted so much to ask her, but he didn't have it in him.

"Yeah, I knew the real you instead of all those rumors, and I should have known you would never go back on the deal." Her eyes fogged over a little. "It was Kiba who did it."

 _Kiba...figures._ "Why am I not surprised?" She answered by appearing before him in a flash and threw her arms around his neck, firm at first before softening. A wave crashed over him and then left him feeling dazed.

Sakura was stifling sobs as she, too, broke. "I'm so...sorry for not trusting you. And I called you what they all did..." He returned the embrace around her dainty waist.

"I don't want to be that man anymore. I saw the way you treated others, me - in spite of the terrible things I did to you." _You played a big part in showing me how to be a better person. You helped me see what I never did before, and you helped me realize I was never alone._

"Does this mean..." She raised her face from his chest to look up at him. "...you're happy now?"

He cracked her a small grin. "I'm getting there, but I'm not perfect."

"There's no such thing."

Now that it seemed things were fine now - here she was in his arms again - he found his voice to ask her if she wanted to be his assistant again, but there was the matter of school and her other job; it was really just an excuse to have her around. She burst out laughing at this and put her face into his shoulder. He let himself join in, and then a couple new voices interrupted their moment...but one was all too familiar and had haunted his dreams for the longest time.

The first who called out to him was feminine, and he turned around with Sakura to see a blonde around her age; if he remembered, she was Ino Yamanaka, her best friend. It was nice to finally see her, so she must have heard what happened that she had to come along. The other...

"Big brother," he uttered, dismayed. "Itachi - what are you doing here?"

His brother had not changed much, but the bangs framing his face had grown longer, and the tear troughs deepened. He looked older than he was, and weary from being on the run. His old anger started with smaller bubbles as the man who ruined his life stood there. Sakura took his hand into hers. "Sasuke, it's okay," she said softly. "He came here to help."

Sasuke blinked in surprise and disbelief. _H-help? What for, after what he did to me?_ He turned and narrowed his eyes at his worst enemy when he spoke - and it was not what he expected.

"To make peace with you, Sasuke, to apologize even if it's too late, because Sakura wants this - unless you wish it yourself. And then I will be out of your life as I have done enough."

~o~

There was not much to say when they were all back in the Uchiha Manor, and the brothers sat before each other for the first time in years. She and Ino were in the kitchen with Kabuto when they were all just reeling over the day's events. She found herself looking at the time; it was just turning two o'clock. She and Ino needed to get to work, and Itachi was the one to drive them here while her car had been left at the inn. But she was half-tempted to just call in sick, which was something she'd never done in her life as far as she could remember.

"Well, Sakura," Kabuto told her, "I can drive you both back. We can leave the brothers as they are." Wasn't he a blessing or what? Before they left, she had a glimpse into the living room, where it looked like the Uchiha brothers were starting to reconcile, except with the deeper tension harkening years ago, it was going to be harder for them.

Sakura felt herself crying inside the entire time she and Ino went to get her car and then go get ready for work. She had a lot to explain to her father, but that would mean a good explanation that Sasuke hadn't been the major villain. But while she was at work, she and Ino could figure something out.

And just as predicted, the devil himself stopped by, but not before he faced the _SMACK_ of the century. Sakura delivered it to his face with calm precision, but beneath the surface, her mood was darker than he should have expected. "Ow, Sakura!" Kiba yelped. "What was THAT for?!"

"Let me ask you something, Kiba," she said icily. "How did you know about my dad being fired?"

He blinked as he rubbed his cheek, which was turning redder by his doing and not just her. "Ino told me," he said. _Liar, son of a bitch. Pants on fire._

Ino glared at him with pure disgust. "No, I didn't."

Sakura's temper was getting stronger now that her fist grew tighter. "You were the one who called my dad's work," she hissed. "I'm such an idiot that I can't believe I didn't think about it. How could you do something like that? You were low to make Sasuke try to commit suicide, and now you do _this_ to him? You're just as low today as you were then!"

"Wh-what? How did you find out about all of this?" he exclaimed. "That was a long time ago! And as for now, I thought I told you I didn't like you working for that freak." Now she could unleash the punch in all its fury, this time to his abdomen, which had him doubled over and onto his knees.

"He's not a freak, Kiba Inuzuka - YOU are. You should have been punished a long time ago, but he got the butt of it. He suffered way more than you ever did. And you took a relish in making it worse for him." Sakura growled at him as she leaned down and stopped inches away.

"Get out of my sight. If I so much as see you near us AND my father again...I. Will. _Kill you._ " Now that got him quivering in his pants, and he might as well have wet them while he held onto his poor stomach. Sakura stood up then and turned on her heel, going back to work, and Ino was right behind her, not before she heard the blonde spit at her bastard cousin whom she made the mistake of helping try to get with her.

"You're such a loser."

That was the last time either of them saw him.

As for her father, what happened was simply - leaving Itachi out of this - that she told him she figured out it was never Sasuke who wronged them. She discovered it was Kiba based on the fact that he'd told her Ino had informed him of the incident; her best friend actually just said why she worked for the Uchiha, and that was when the slip up was exposed. This made Kizashi so furious he wanted to punch Kiba himself, but she stopped him by informing him that she'd done the deed herself, and she would really kill him if he tried to come near them again. Kizashi burst out into roars of laughter before slapping her back. "That's my girl!" And then he asked for her to invite Sasuke over so he could get to know him just like his daughter did.

It turned out to be better than expected without words, because there was nothing new with Sasuke telling her dad everything he told her, and of course begrudgingly - known to her alone - leaving out the true details behind his brother's "crimes". He just let them both know that he'd made peace with it.

"I hate Danzo for all of this," he growled when they were alone on the porch just as he was leaving by the time the sun was going down, and the wind was picking up. "He did this to my family, and Itachi will never be cleared for something he didn't do. He sacrificed so much for me." He closed his eyes and inhaled through his nose, trying to calm down. She put her hand on his shoulder.

"But know that he is still watching out for you while he's not here." He looked down at her then, and with his smile, his eyes sparkled. It was so remarkable to see this change in him from the first time she met him. He was never alone, but he didn't listen. He cared about himself for a very long time, so it had been awkward for him when he asked her to be his assistant only as an excuse to see her more; he really cared about her.

"Understanding as ever. I know that I probably don't deserve you, but I'll do whatever I can to try." She leaned up and pecked his cheek. _But don't try TOO hard._

All of which brought them to this day, two years later, when she was done with school, and she had her degree as well as full-time position at the center. It was the end of March when she and Sasuke married at the estate, in an intimate ceremony before his mother's gardens and witnessed by her father, Ino, Tsunade and twenty coworkers from both of their sides. The white roses around the archway were in bloom, and beyond were the white-centered red ones along with blue, white, yellow and purple irises, finished with white aster.

What more could a blushing new bride ask for?

Here she was in this romantic fit-and-flare, which was made of lace and strapless, sheer over a short and equally sleeveless white slip. In her hair was a woven halo of pretty pink blossoms around her scalp like a crown. And she carried a bouquet of lush red orchids and roses, and pink and white ones. Ino was beside her only, as her maid of honor - which you didn't see every day in a bridal party - and her dad on the other side. Her best friend's dress was long and navy blue with pink flowers. And it looked like she was trying so hard not to cry for her, which made Sakura want to weep and ruin her makeup they both took time to apply on each other. Kizashi chuckled and gently patted her hand, before he hiccupped, knowing his little girl was all grown up.

Sasuke's jaw just about hit the floor, before his hand came up to wipe the tears that formed in his eyes. Kabuto put a hand on his shoulder and shook it gently to calm him down just as the bride came to stand before her groom. And holding her bouquet in one hand, she let the other take his - and it was this hand which showed her engagement ring, which was a trio of blue sapphires in halos of white, just as stunning as the sky. It was under the same sky where the gods were looking down on them, wanting them to be happy, as they exchanged their vows and then the wedding bands.

A thin band of twinkling white came to join its companion, while his alone was sturdy tungsten - _strong as the man wearing it_ \- inlaid around with numerous diamonds blazing like fire in the mines.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." _Finally. Our life isn't perfect, but we made it. And I look forward to spending the rest of my life with you._ It was that moment when Sakura Haruno became Sakura _Uchiha. Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha - has a nice ring to it._

Inside, where the guests were enjoying the next hour and refreshing themselves with champagne and _hor d'oeuvres_ , bride and groom were surveying the beauty that was the reception in the back lawn of the estate. The vibrant pink cherry blossoms were in bloom, and each of the tables were all around the great tree that had been planted when this property was built by the first Uchiha. The bride and groom had their sweetheart table in the sunlight, shaded by painted umbrellas. And every surface was placed with vases of birch wood and pastel flowers. Finally, the cake was brought out; it was white and double-tiered, with spiraling roses and orchids - like the ones in the bride's bouquet - all around. "It's beautiful, considering I didn't have much of a say in it and left it all up to you," her new husband joked, bumping his hip lightly against hers and making her jump.

He was right; everything had been between her, Ino and her dad, but this place was ideal because it meant the world to her and Sasuke. It had so many memories, good and bad. "Surprise to you, too."

"But..." His irises twinkled. "...it's not as beautiful compared to you and how happy you've made me." Sakura laughed and turned her entire body into him.

"You really made me happy, too, Sasuke."

It was then that they went down to their guests for the party to begin, and in midst of checking out the wedding gifts that were displayed, one stood out and wasn't named except with the letters **I.U**. Sakura swallowed and held it up for Sasuke to see. "We should keep this one private," he said quietly, tucking it beneath his arm just as the others were preoccupied with dancing to the latest song. She chose to get away with him, but they couldn't be away for too long.

It remained hidden away amid the bookcase until the day was over and the night was coming. Which meant they were all alone and exhausted, but man, what a day! The best part of it was her husband, the first man she fell in love with, and she in turn pulled him out of a dark place. Now, in privacy of their bedroom, he in his dark flannel pants and she in a negligee of rosy satin with a black lace bust, they could open this solo box which was nothing like the wonderful household items from their friends.

Inside the shimmering white box was a red rose of exquisite glass, the stem clear, and the leaves and petals accented with gold. "Oh, God, it's so beautiful. He was..." He knew who she was referring to. "...very thoughtful." There was an inscription of gold inside the lid, but there was also a folded note written by the man himself.

 _My dearest little brother and sister-in-law,_

 _I am sorry to not be available on the day when you most need me. My new assignment in Kiri prevents me from having contact with outside world, so I had to get this to you as soon as possible. Don't worry about me; I have taken my medication on doctor's orders._

 _It is hard to believe two years have gone by when we reconciled. But it is for the best that I never return home the way I used to, Sasuke, even though we discussed this already. And Sakura, continue to make my brother happy as he has done for you._

 _Know that when I leave the world, I love you both always._

Last month, Itachi contacted his brother and broke tragic news beyond help: he had been diagnosed with a rare blood disease within his lungs, likely brought on by years of sacrifice, stress and hiding away. According to the doctor he saw, he had a year at most to live, and the stages were most advanced. Sasuke broke down like he did a long time ago and when he and Sakura were apart, protesting that his brother didn't have to die the way he was going to. "Why do you have to die alone, without your own brother? Like a _monster?_ " he'd said angrily, almost slamming his palm on the counter. "You're supposed to be here, surrounded by people you love, not on some shady mission with a bunch of psychopaths!"

She didn't like this any more than he did, but they knew that if Itachi wanted to die, it had to be the way he wanted, and like a hero. They would remember him that way while the rest of the world saw him as a villain. _It's what he wants, and we have to respect it._

Now, looking at Sasuke's face, there was a faint smile at the words of love, and those of the inscription in the box containing the wedding gift to them. The message was both from Itachi personally as well as between him and his new wife, which they kept open on her bedside as they made love on their wedding night.

 _I love you. I wonder if you_ _really_ _know how special you are to me? You are so very dear and in my heart for eternity._

~o~

 _With Sasuke's transformation and his renewed joy, the people in the land discovered the Beast was gone. In his stead was a kind gentleman whose heart had been changed by the power of love - with the help of a woman named Sakura._

 _And while their world wasn't perfect, they still lived happily ever after._

 **My God, even though the ending is cheesy, its message was still so powerful and brought me to harder tears than before. Just as much was with Itachi, because I hadn't cried since the first time I saw his death in the anime as well as his and Sasuke's final farewell after the Edo Tensei was released.**

 **As for the wedding present he left Sasuke and Sakura, that rose with the same written message exists in real life. When I found it in a catalog, it was a part of setting the foundation.**


End file.
